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INTRODUCTION. 



We hail it as one of the signs of good, that the female 
sex have, in these latter years, been gradually coming up to 
the position of dignity and influence which Providence has 
evidently designed for them. If we compare woman as she 
was with woman as she is, or if we view her as she is now 
under Pagan and under Christian influences, we cannot resist 
the conviction that Christianity is th^ wonder-working agent 
that has produced the change in both her character and her 
condition. And we have a right to expect that this change 
will become yet more deep and universal. We anticipate 
the time when Christianity will dispense to her still brighter 
glories ; when her intellect will act more vigorously, and her 
heart be lifted up in purer and nobler aspirations ; when she 
will not only better understand, but more faithfully fulfil, her 
allotted mission ; — in short, when her influence shall be felt 
everywhere, welcomed everywhere, pure as the breath of the 
morning, and merciful, yet powerful, as the ministry of 
angels. 

But notwithstanding the favorable change that has already 
taken place, and the yet more favorable change which is 



XII INTRODUCTION. 

justified to our hopes and expectations, it must be acknowl- 
edged that we have little reason to be satisfied with the 
present standard of female excellencCj even in those commu- 
nities where the standard is the highest. Many examples, 
indeed, there are of female character, which would seem to 
us to have been formed after a perfect model, and to leave 
as httle to be desired as consists with the present state of 
human imperfection ; but these examples, instead of indicat- 
ing the ordinary measure of female attainment and usefulness, 
are always marked as glorious exceptions ; they stand forth 
from the mass in goodly prominence, showing at once what 
woman may become, and what every woman ought to aspire 
to, as she would accomplish her legitimate destiny or attain 
to the highest dignity of her sex. 

There is, perhaps, nothing that stands more radically in 
the way of female progress than that spirit of self-indulgence 
which so extensively pervades the higher classes of female 
society. It cannot be disguised that it seems to have become 
almost an essential part of the economy of fashionable life, 
that a lady should have little or nothing to do. She may, 
indeed, make her own toilet ; she may, w^hen it is convenient, 
and she does not wish to spend the hour in sleep, receive the 
calls of her friends; she may walk in her garden, and 
admire the progress of vegetation, and be regaled with the 
fragrance of flowers ; she may occasionally take an airing in 
pleasant weather, and spend here and there a few moments 



INTRODUCTION. XIII 

of idle chit-chat with some of her acquaintances ; she may 
grace the splendid ball-room or the fashionable party ; she 
may sometimes even sport a little dehcate needle-work with 
which to adorn in a higher degree her own person ; — but 
further, than this she does not go, — much further than this 
she is forbidden to go, by the false code of fashion to which 
she has subjected herself Not that all these things which 
we have mentioned are in themselves worthy of condemna- 
tion ; — we would allow to a lady her delicate occupations 
and her innocent amusements, — but we would not allow 
her to feel as if these were the greater concerns of human 
Hfe, — in other words, as if she had nothing to do which did 
not terminate ultimately in self-indulgence. The truth is, 
that woman, as well as man, is made for activity ; she is 
gifted with the same intellectual and moral faculties ; and 
though Providence has assigned to her a different sphere of 
action, yet he has in no wise absolved her from the obliga- 
tion to be active. Let her remember, then, if she settles 
down into a state of indolent inaction, because either an 
opulent condition in life or the false maxims of the age 
permit it, that she offends as well against the claims of 
Heaven as against the dignity of her own nature. 

But it is not enough that woman should be active ; her 
activity must be guided by discretion and animated by benev- 
olence; she must be contented to work wathin her own 
sphere, and to occupy her own quiet throne. It is not more 
1* 



XIV INTRODUCTION. 

certain that she is endowed with faculties that qualify her 
for useful exertion, than that she has her own peculiar field 
of labor indicated to her. But, unhappily, she has not 
always been satisfied to keep within the bound which the 
finger of Providence has manifestly drawn around her. She 
has sometimes forgotten her native modesty, and thrust her- 
self into the rough and tumultuous scenes of life, where her 
voice has been heard, not to allay, but to swell the tempest. 
She has talked extravagantly and violently of her own rights, 
— mistaking a frenzied ambition to be known and heard and 
talked about, for an honest desire to reform and purify 
society. And even where she has stopped short of this 
extreme point, against which all decency and all common 
sense remonstrate, she has not unfrequently overstepped the 
bounds of strict decorum, by an interference with matters 
not appropriately belonging to her. Who, for instance, 
could hear a lady, at a large dinner-party, making her voice 
heard above the voices of a dozen professed politicians, in 
debating some party question, without feeling that she had 
forgotten her sex and her place, and that no more fitting 
word of counsel could be addressed to her than that she 
should remember that she is a woman 7 

What, then, is woman's peculiar sphere ? In what field 
may her influence be most appropriately and most advan- 
tageously exerted ? 

First of all, surely, in her own dwelling — in the sacred pri- 



INTRODUCTION. XV 

vacy of home. Here she sustains her most intimate rela- 
tions ; and the duties belonging to them are sufficient to put 
in requisition the full vigor of her faculties. What important 
duties devolve upon her in the relation of a wife ! Not 
only is she bound to study the happiness of her husband, — 
to do what she can to alleviate his burdens of care, and pre- 
vent the occasions of disquietude, — but she should consider 
herself pledged to the promotion of his usefulness in the 
highest possible degree ; and the heart of an affectionate and 
intelHgent wife will quickly find out many means of doing 
this which nothing but experience could suggest. Hence it 
has almost grown into a proverb, that an individual who has 
been eminently successful in business, or eminently useful in 
society, has been blessed with an uncommonly prudent and 
excellent wife. In respect to no profession, perhaps, is this 
remark so frequently or so justly made, as the clerical: 
almost every minister's standing and general influence are 
affected more or less by the character of his wife ; and while 
many owe to this circumstance a greatly-increased usefulness, 
many others find in it a mill-stone about their necks, — their 
efforts are in a great degree paralyzed, and life with them 
is little more than a protracted and unbroken sickness of the 
heart. As a mother^ too, who shall fix a limit to woman's 
responsibility ? In her house, and under her eye, are grow- 
ing up the component parts of society in the next generation ; 
and, moreover, each of them has an immortal nature, in which 



XVI INTRODUCTION. 

are bound up elements of cliaracter that will prove the seeds 
of an eternal harvest of glory or woe. The father has, indeed, 
important duties to perform towards these rising immortals : 
but it is the mother's plastic hand that chiefly forms their 
characters ; it is her winning voice especially that is to make 
them familiar with the lessons of truth and wisdom ; it is 
her gentle hand that is to lead them into the paths of 
virtue; it is her firm but loving look in which they are to 
find the most powerful dissuasive from evil ; — in short, it 
is through her agency, far more than any other, that they 
are to be formed for a life of honorable usefulness, and an 
interminable career of virtue and happiness beyond the 
grave. Is there anything that can task woman's energies 
and affections, if this does not ? But yet another of her 
domestic relations is that of a sister. Suppose her to be 
the elder of a circle of brothers and sisters — how much is 
it in her power to do for the improvement and the happiness 
of all of them ! How can she make herself felt by all, not 
merely in inculcating the maxims of prudence and kindness, 
nor yet merely in acting as a teacher to those whose facul- 
ties are less developed than her own, but in the strict pro- 
priety of her daily walk, and by a thousand insensible and 
nameless influences which become that tender and beautifal 
relation ! It may safely be said, then, that woman is most 
in her element when she is at home. The objects that meet 
her eye every hour are those upon which her influence is 



INTRODUCTION. XVII 

primarily to be exerted, and through which she is to reach 
out into the great world. 

But J though home is woman's highest and most peculiar 
sphere, it is by no means her only sphere ; she has important 
work to perform outside of her own dwelHng. It is a con- 
ceded fact that Heaven has strung in woman's heart a chord 
that vibrates quickly and deeply to the notes of sorrow, and 
thus has indicated to her that her mission is to be in no 
small degree a mission of sympathy and charity. Hence, it 
is pecuharly fitting that she should make herself at home in 
the dwelHngs of the destitute and the desolate; that she should 
familiarize herself to scenes of mourning, as a comforter to 
the sorrowful; that she should look after the poor widow 
and the helpless orphan, making provision for the supply of 
the one and the education of the other ; — in short, that 
wherever she sees a cup of bitterness administered to a 
human being, she should endeavor, if it is in her power, to 
infuse into it some ingredients of consolation. Who does 
not honor the name of Mrs. Fry, who spent many of her 
last years in laboring to enhghten and reform the miserable 
tenants of Newgate ? And who does not equally honor our 
own distinguished countrywoman. Miss Dix, who, with the 
spirit of a Howard animating every pulsation of her heart, 
may be said almost literally to be living in prisons, not 
merely for the physical relief, but for the moral and spiritual 
benefit, of those whom neither justice nor safety would sufier 
to be at large ? 



XVIII INTRODUCTION. 

Nor is it required of woman tliat she should limit her 
benevolent offices to scenes of visible and palpable suffering ; 
she may do much, she ought to do much, in sustaining and 
advancing the interests of true Christianity. She is by no 
m.eans to be considered as infringing the province of the 
other sex, or as recreant to the delicacy of her own nature, 
when she puts forth vigorous and combined efforts for extend- 
ing the knowledge and influence of the Gospel. We have 
nothing to say against, but much to say in favor of, female 
societies in the different departments of evangelical charity : 
and it is to be devoutly hoped and confidently expected, that 
with the gradual progress of the spirit of benevolence in 
future years and ages, these societies will form a far more 
effective and extended agency than they now do, in the great 
work of renovating the world. 

There is yet another department in which female effort 
may very properly be encouraged, and in which many 
females have already labored in a manner worthy, of all 
praise — namely, the department of authorship. There is 
no reason suggested by delicacy, or common sense, or public 
sentiment, why a lady who has fine thoughts on any subject 
of importance, and has the power of expressing them on 
paper in a fitting manner, should not give them to the world ; 
and hence it has come to pass, especially in latter years, that 
many of the books which are fitted to exert the most benign 
influence on society are from female writers. It would be 



INTRODUCTION. XIX 

easy to make out a list of sucli works, not only from the 
dead but from tke living, wliicli have already acquired the 
character of standard productions, and the loss of -which 
would make a chasm in our literature which it would be 
hard to reahze, and still harder to supply. There are certain 
subjects upon which females write far more effectively than 
men ; and that must be a dull book, indeed, written by a 
lady, which the men will not read. Let our gifted ladies, 
then, not be afraid to use the pen ; but let them use it in 
such a manner that they shall never have occasion to blush 
for what they have written. 

It is an obvious deduction, from the preceding train of 
thought, that nothing is more important to the well being of 
society and the prospects of the race, than a high standard 
of female education ; by w^hich I mean, not merely great 
proficiency in what are commonly called accomphshments, 
nor even a thorough training of the intellect alone, — but 
such a formation of the physical, intellectual, moral and 
social habits, as shall best subserve the great end of a happy 
and useful life. It scarcely need be said that such a result 
is not to be looked for, independently of the influence of 
Christianity ; and hence anything that falls short of a Chris- 
tian education, however it may furnish a passport to the 
favor of the world, leaves the greatest interests of the present, 
and all the interests of the future, utterly unprovided for. 
A female may undoubtedly be amiable in her disposition and 



XX INTRODUCTION. 

attractive in her mannerSj and may be admired and loved by 
large circles of friends, while yet she has not the fear of God 
before her eyes, nor the love of God in her heart ; but, in 
order to fulfil the great end of her existence on earth, and to 
be prepared for a nobler existence in heaven, she must draw 
her motives of action from the future and the invisible, and 
never lose sight of her relations to God and eternity. 

Whoever makes a discreet and well-directed effort to 
improve and elevate the character of woman, is certainly to 
be regarded as a benefactor to his race. On this ground, I 
hesitate not to say that the author of the following work has 
richly merited such a distinction. In a simple and beautiful 
commentary on Solomon's description of a virtuous woman, 
we find much light thrown upon the text, by a reference to 
ancient usages ; a fine illustration of various points of differ- 
ence between the Jewish and the Christian woman; and 
many of the soundest maxims of wisdom bearing upon the 
subject of female education. It is a work that will bear to 
be read more than once ; and each successive reading will be 
likely to reveal some new gem of thought which in the 
general mass of excellence had been overlooked before. It 
is a book suitable for the husband to present to his wife, the 
mother to her daughter, and the brother to his sister ; and 
the more widely it is circulated, the better for the country 
and the world. 

W. B. S. 

Albany, October 15, 1851. 



•uhjntH f lluBtrat^h. 



[p[a©wii[R[ii i^^iu. a(o)=e3c 



WHO CAN FIND A VIRTUOUS W0I\L4.N ? FOR HER PRICE IS 
FAR ABOVE RUBIES. — PAGE 25. 

THE HEART OF HER HUSBAND DOTH SAFELY TRUST IN HER, SO THAT 
HE SHALL HAVE NO NEED OF SPOIL. — PAGE 33. 

SHE WILL DO HIM GOOD, AND NOT EVIL, ALL THE 
DAYS OF HER LIFE. PAGE 42. 

SHE SEEKETH WOOL AND FLAX, AND WORKETH WILLINGLY WITH 
HER HANDS. PAGE 50. 

SHE IS LIKE THE MERCHANTS' SHIPS ; SHE BRINGETH 
HER FOOD FROM AFAR. PAGE 64. 

SHE RISETH ALSO WHILE IT IS YET NIGHT, AND GIVETH MEAT TO HER 

HOUSEHOLD, AND A PORTION TO HER 

ItlAIDENS. — PAGE 73. 

SHE CONSIDERETH A FIELD, AND BUYETH IT ; WITH THE FRUIT OF HER 
HANDS SHE PLANTETH A VINEYARD. PAGE 84. 

SHE GIRDETH HER LOINS WITH STRENGTH, AND STRENGTHENETH 
HER ARMS. — PAGE 99, 

SHE PERCEIVETH THAT HER MERCHANDISE IS GOOD ; HER CANDLE 
GOETH NOT OUT BY NIGHT. PAGE 1C6. 

SHE LAYETH HER HANDS TO THE SPINDLE, AND HER HANDS 
HOLD THE DISTAFF. PAGE 117. 



SUBJECTS ILLUSTRATED. 

SHE STRETCHETH OUT HER HAND TO THE POOR ; YEA, SHE REACHETH 
FORTH HER HANDS TO THE NEEDY. — PAGE 122. 

SHE IS NOT AFRAID OP THE SNOW FOR HER HOUSEHOLD ; FOR ALL 

HER HOUSEHOLD ARE CLOTHED WITH 

SCARLET. — PAGE 132. 

SHE MAKETH H:EP^ELF COVERINGS OF TAPESTRY ; HER CLOTHING IS SILK 
AND PURPLE. — PAGE 146. 

HER HUSBAND IS KNOWN IN THE GATES, WHEN HE SITTETH 
AMONG THE ELDERS OF THE LAND. PAGE 159. 

SHE MAI^TH FINE LINEN, AND SELLUTH IT ; AND DELIVERETH GIRDLES 
UNTO THE MERCHANT. — PAGE 169. 

STRENGTH AND HONOR ARE HER CLOTHING ; AND SHE SHALL 
REJOICE IN TIME TO COME. PAGE 181. 

SHE OPENETH HER MOUTH WITH WISDOM ; AND IN HER TONGUE 
IS THE LAW OF KINDNESS. — PAGE 186. 

SHE LOOKETH WELL TO THE WAYS OF HER HOUSEHOLD, AND EATETH NOT 
THE BREAD OF IDLENESS. PAGE 204. 

HER CHILDREN ARISE UP, AND CALL HER BLESSED : HER HUSBAND 
ALSO, AND HE PRAISETH HER. — PAGE 223. 

aiANY DAUGHTERS HAVE DONE VIRTUOUSLY, BUT THOU 
EXCELLEST THEM ALL. — PAGE 231. 

FAVOR IS DECEITFUL, AND BEAUTY IS VAIN ; BUT A WOMAN THAT FEARETH 
THE LORD, SHE SHALL BE PRAISED. — PAGE 237. 

GIVE HER OF THE FRUIT OF HER HANDS ; AND LET HER OWN 
WORKS PRAISE HER IN THE GATES. — PAGE 247. 



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fl t F >\ r^ A 3 c) a; e n 13 ^ il.^. 



THE 



EXCELLENT WOMAN. 



SECTION I. 



WHO CAN FIND A VIRTUOUS WOMAN? FOR HER PRICE IS EAR 
ABOVE RUBIES. 

HE whole of this beautiful descrip- 
' tion of female excellence consists of 
twenty-two verses, distinct from the 
remaining part of the chapter, and 
forming, in themselves, a poem, of 
> which each verse commences with a let- 
ter of the Hebrew alphabet. It is the 
conclusion of that book which has been 
called the storehouse of practical wisdom; 
and, like the chapters of Proverbs which 
precede it, it is admirable for its just delin- 
eations of human character, its wise practical 
directions, and its appropriate commendations and 
reproof. To the female sex, in all ages, it pre- 




26 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

sents many striking and valuable lessons. To the 
Hebrews, indeed, accustomed to a highly figurative 
mode of discourse, and a perpetual reference to 
proverbs and wise sayings, the various portions of 
this book seem singularly appropriate ; and perhaps 
many of those holy women of old, of whom we read 
in the New Testament, learned by the study of this 
poem the duties enjoined by the God of their fathers 
on those who professed to be his servants. Some 
of the lessons which it teaches belong especially to 
older times ; to days when patient, unremitting 
labor, and submission, and modesty, were the 
virtues most highly commendable in women: but 
all Scripture has been written for our learning, and 
its instructions belong to all times ; and the Chris- 
tian woman who has received a larger Bible, and a 
clearer discovery of divine light, has, while striving 
to imitate the virtues and graces here enjoined by 
God's Holy Spirit, the influence of even a stronger 
motive than any which Jewish females could feel, 
since Christ has said to his followers, '^If ye love 
me, keep my commandments." 

This poem has occupied much of the attention of 
the learned. The simple reader of Scripture would 



THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN. 27 

infer from it one of two things. Either that it was 
the description of some woman whose character was 
present to the mind of the writer ; or, that it was a 
picture of such a woman as the inspired writer 
would propose as a general example. It is by 
many supposed to have been written by Bathsheba, 
and intended as a direction to Solomon, under the 
name of Lemuel, in his choice of a wife. 

It would seem, on reading the comments on Scrip- 
ture, both of old and modern authors, as if learning 
sometimes served chiefly to perplex and confound 
simple things. Dr. Doddridge has observed, that 
the meaning of Scripture, as it presents itself to the 
unlearned but intelligent reader, is generally the 
sense in which it is intended ; and, though some 
limitation must be made to this remark, especially 
in cases in which a knowledge of oriental character 
and customs aids in so important a manner the illus- 
tration of Scripture truth, yet it is, in the main, a 
just conclusion. Some of the fathers of the church, 
not content to see in this description a beautiful 
exhibition of female character, searched for a hidden 
meaning in its simple declarations. One believed 
that the virtuous woman shadowed forth the sens- 
2^ 



28 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

itive soul, subject to the understanding and the 
reason. Another considered that God's holy word, 
the Scripture of truth, was thus signified. Some 
thought, with more apparent reason, that it was 
emblematic of wisdom ; and many, with Ambrose 
and Bede, have regarded the virtuous woman as a 
type of the church of Christ. Leaving, however, 
these mystical and spiritual interpretations of the 
passage, we shall consider it as an example of moral 
and religious excellence, presented by God to every 
woman whose standard of life and character is found 
in his written word. 

The word translated '^ virtuous," in the first verse 
of this poem, has a reference also to strength of 
character, and implies mental and moral energy, or 
courage. So, too, in the command of the apostle 
Paul, ''Add to your faith virtue,'' the more strict 
reading of the word would be, '' courage." " The 
word," says Bishop Patrick, ''signifies both strength, 
or rather courage, and riches, and virtue. Thus, in 
the description of fitting persons for the magistracy, 
Jethro, in general, says, they should be anschee 
chajil, which we translate, able men ; and then fol- 
lows more particularly wherein their ability should 



THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN. 29 

consist. Such as fear God, men of truth, men 
hating covetousness. I take therefore the word to 
include a great fear of God, which is so powerful as 
to endue one with courage to do well, when piety 
is contemned, nay, — laughed at and abused." 

There is throughout this portrait a firmness and 
consistency of character, which renders it truly 
worthy of admiration, and which, owing to the 
sensibility with which women generally are endued, 
is a virtue demanding great moral and religious 
principle. Women, influenced as they necessarily 
are by their feelings and affections, and rendered, 
by their dependence on the stronger sex, more 
liable to adopt the sentiments of others, and to have 
the character moulded by those to whom they are 
attached, are peculiarly liable to a want of firmness 
in conduct. Yet the highest commendation of God 
is given to this strength of character. We find it 
recommended in the sacred writings, and especially 
enjoined on every Christian. '^ Wherefore add to 
your faith virtue," says St. Paul; '^ be ye steadfast, 
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the 
Lord." Our Christian profession requires, indeed, 
to be held with firmness, in days when those who 



30 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

are called Christian women are often found conform- 
ing so mucli to the spirit and manners of the world. 
'' Hold fast/' says the apostle, " the confidence and 
the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end;" and 
we are to "holdfast our profession/' seeing that 
we have " a great High Priest, that is passed into 
the heavens/' and therefore by him we may approach 
boldly unto the throne of grace, to ask for that firm- 
ness and consistency which we so much need. And 
great encouragement, too, is given to firmness ; for 
when we are desired to " hold fast the profession of 
our faith, without wavering," we are directed to 
the cheering consideration of the unchanging prom- 
ises of Christ, '' For he is faithful that promised." 

There was among the Hebrews a strong and deep 
earnestness of character, contrasting remarkably 
with the listlessness and supineness of many ori- 
ental people ; and the Scripture exhibits numerous 
instances of moral strength among the Jewish 
women. There was Miriam, the sister of Moses 
and Aaron, who, in those days when Israel's God 
had led them through the dry land, and overwhelmed 
their enemies in the deep waters, left the privacy 
of domestic life, and joined with all the Hebrew 



THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN. 31 

women in publicly praising their Great Deliverer ; 
and, in a noble fervor of inspired feeling, sang tbat 
song, which no poet of later ages has ever equalled 
in sublimity : 

" Sing ye to tlie Lord, for lie hath triumphed gloriously ; 
The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." 

There was Deborah, who sat beneath the palm- 
tree, judging Israel, and even went up fearlessly to 
the battles of the Lord. There was the noble-minded 
daughter of the rash Jephthah, whose moral courage 
failed not in the hour of danger, but who, even in 
the prospect of personal sacrifices, could rejoice that 
her father had conquered the enemies of her people ; 
and, with firm integrity, could urge him to keep a 
promise very injurious to herself. ^^My father, if 
thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to 
me according to that which hath proceeded out of 
thy mouth ; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken ven- 
geance for thee of thine enemies, even of the chil- 
dren of Ammon.'' 

In the less troublous times of Israel, no doubt, 
Jewish women could be found who, like the female 
of the text, were quietly performing the duties of 



32 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

life, with strength and steadiness of character. But 
the records of domestic life are written chiefly in 
the hearts of the home circle ; its events, important 
as they are, not only to that circle, hut also, in their 
eventual influence, on the whole character of a 
nation, are yet too uniform and simple for the page 
of either inspired or profane history; and the detail 
given of the Excellent Woman in this book is the 
fullest picture which is to be found in the sacred 
writings of the excellency and employments of a 
holy woman in her home. Happy is that woman 
who well performs the duties of home, to whom 
home is the sphere which concentrates her ambition, 
and has the largest share of her love ; and who 
governs her household actively and dihgently, and 
in the fear of the Lord. 

But, although no other part of Scripture gives so 
connected a detail of a pious woman's works and 
duties, yet all the various directions to the female 
sex, with which the writings of the apostles abound, 
accord with its principles. ^' Wives, submit your- 
selves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the 
Lord;" even so must the wives ^'be grave, not 
slanderers, sober, faithful in all things." 



THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN. 33 

Again : she is to be well reported of for good 
works ; if she have brought up children, if she have 
lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, 
if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have dili- 
gently followed every good work. '' In behavior,'' 
good wives were to be '' as becometh holiness : not 
false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of 
good things ; — to be sober, to love their husbands, 
to love their children. To be discreet, chaste, 
keepers at home." 

It was from such holy mothers that the saints of 
the New Testament were descended. Of such a 
mother and such a grandmother, young Timothy 
learned the Holy Scriptures. In homes like this 
were reared Martha and Mary, those sisters of 
Bethany, that family whom Jesus loved, and one 
of whom he gently reproved, because her energy 
of character led her to a restless anxiety of serving 
at a moment when she should have sat and listened 
to the words of her Lord. In households like these 
dwelt the mother of our Saviour, and Elizabeth, the 
blessed of the Lord, — names ever dear to us all. 
From such sprung Priscilla, who received the young 
Apollos into her home, and expounded unto him the 



34 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

way of God more perfectly; and who, with her 
husband, is said by the apostle to have been ready, 
for his life, to have laid down their own necks. Of 
such were Phebe, the servant of the church at Cen- 
chrea ; and Mary, who bestowed much labor on the 
ministers of Christ; and many others, who, when 
faithful steadfastness and pious strength of resolu- 
tion led to death, yet shrunk not even from suffering, 
but joined the noble army of martyrs, and are among 
those who '^ came out of great tribulation, and have 
washed their robes, and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb.'' 

Even in that deeply solemn hour when the blessed 
Saviour yielded his life on the cross, to atone for 
sinful man, — at an hour when the fear of death had 
power to triumph over the faith of many, — when 
his disciples forsook him and fled, — yet holy women 
shrunk not from following him to the cross. 

Wten foes the hand of menace shook, 
And friends betrayed, denied, forsook, 
Then woman, meekly constant still, 
Followed to Calvary's fatal hill : 

Yes, followed where the boldest failed, 
Unmoved by threat or sneer : 



THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN. 35 

For faithful woman's love prevailed 
O'er helpless woman's fear. 

To a woman, the pious virgin Mary, the mother 
of the Saviour, his dying eyes were directed, and 
his dying bequest made, that the beloved disciple 
would take her to his own home. that woman's 
steadfastness of character may shrink not, either in 
the day of persecution or in the daily acts of house- 
hold duty, since strength and wisdom are given now 
by him who gave it to holy women of old ; that 
now, as then, they may follow the Lord fully ! The 
example here given should lead every female to seek 
from the Holy Spirit the grace to abound in holy 
courage and devotedness to the Lord. 

Woman ! blest partner of our joys and woes ! 

Even in the darkest hour of earthly ill, 
Untarnished yet thy fond affection glows, 

Throbs with each pulse, and beats with every thrill ! 
When sorrow rends the heart, when feverish pain 

Wrings the hot drops of anguish from the brow, — 
To soothe the soul, to cool the burning brain, 

! who so welcome and so prompt as thou ? 

3 



36 



THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 



SECTION II. 

THE HEART OF HER HUSBAND DOTH SAFELY TRUST IN HER, SO 
THAT HE SHALL HAYE NO NEED OF SPOIL. 

CONFIDENCE of such a kind implies 
[not only a conviction of simplicity 
and guilelessness of character in 
the wife, but it also assures us of 
Jier discretion. No man could safely 
trust in one whose conduct was not 
^unspotted in all her intercourse with 
society. The heart of her husband had 
^no care, lest, by any unguarded act, any 
imprudence on her part, she should bring a 
reproach upon his name, or a sorrow into his 
bosom. Such a woman must have shunned even 
the appearance of evil. She must have acted on 
the principle of the Hebrew proverb, ''A good name 
is better than precious ointment, and loving favor to 
be chosen rather than choice gold;'' and, by the 
uniform consistency of a virtuous life, have gained 
the entire confidence of him who best knew her 
character. 




THE TRUSTWORTHY WOMAN. 39 

But while the text implies this, yet it mainly 
refers to the assurance entertained by her husband 
of her care and skill in the management of her 
household. Archbishop Cranmer renders this pas- 
sage, " So that he shall fall into no poverty," and 
Boothroyd translates it, ''And of his property he 
will not be deprived." The Septuagint version 
understands the word spoil as referring to the 
w^oman, and not to her husband; ''Such an one 
as she shall not want good spoils." But in any 
case it signifies that provident care and management, 
that looking after the concerns of her family, for 
which we find her so often commended throughout 
the poem. 

The need of spoil must be explained by a refer- 
ence to the usages of the Hebrews at this period 
of society. The Israelites had often obtained spoils 
in their encounters with neighboring nations. The 
reign of David had been occupied by continual war- 
fare. The pastoral community at this time were 
not a tribe of idle shepherds, but those who had 
been men of war from their youth ; and their fre- 
quent expeditions were regarded as acts of retalia- 
tion for similar offences from the herdsmen of 
neighboring tribes. Saul and David had been great 



40 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

warriors ; and under the latter king, the Israelites 
had been so trained to military discipline that they 
appear to have been always victorious in the field, 
and are frequently represented as sharing that spoil 
which in the more peaceful days of Solomon was 
less generally enjoyed. The first public act of 
Saul had been a battle against Nahash the Ammon- 
ite ; and in the description of the spoil taken, when 
Saul and Jonathan, and all the Hebrews, encoun- 
tered the Philistines, we see the nature of the wealth 
gained by the Israelites. In the narrative given in 
1 Samuel xv., we find that the people flew upon the 
spoil, and took sheep and oxen and calves. And 
when, in the following chapter, we read that Saul 
fought against the Amalekites, and sinned against 
Jehovah by appropriating, as spoil, those things 
which he had commanded him to destroy, Ave find 
enumerated the sheep and oxen and lambs, which 
formed the wealth of a pastoral people. 

But if Saul, as had been sung by the Hebrew 
maidens, had slain his thousands, David had slain 
his tens of thousands, and the records of his life 
display how much wealth had been gained by the 
Israelites from their enemies. At the time when 
David, driven from his home by the jealousy of 



THE TRUSTWORTHY WOMAN. 41 

Saul, wandered with his men to the wilderness of 
Paran, they probably supported themselves by spoil 
gathered from the tribes who came down upon the 
shepherds of the land. The nan-ative of Nabal's 
churlishness refers to David's protection of the 
herdsmen from incursions of this nature ; for when 
their unthankful master refused his help to the 
wanderer, the young men told Abigail, and said of 
David's host, " They were a wall unto us both by 
night and day, all the while we were with them 
keeping sheep." And now, when peace was in 
Israel generaUy, yet in adjacent countries the same 
practices were continued, and the man who sought 
to be rich often shared the spoil taken from others. 

But in the case of this Jewish family there was 
no need of such spoil. Industry suppKed the house- 
hold wants, and care kept that from waste which 
industry had gathered, and the husband had no 
occasion to go out to warfare. Under the shadow 
of his own vine and his own fig-tree he could enjoy 
the blessings of a peaceful life ; and in his earthly 
home could find that love and quietness Avhich might 
prove the best foretaste that earth can give of the 
heavenly home to which he was tending. 
3* 



42 



THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 



SECTION III. 

SHE WILL DO HIM GOOD, AND NOT EVIL, ALL THE DAYS OF 
HER LIFE. 

. T is much in the power of all who 
dwell in the same household to ben- 
efit each other. Hourly opportuni- 
ties occur of showing kindness, of 
riending aid, of practising forbearance, 
and of constantly doing mutual good. 
But this is most especially the case with 
husbands and wives. If we except the 
wrongest of all earthly influences, — that of 
the mother on her child, — there is none 
which can equal that of the conjugal relation. 
Time and eternity are connected with it. Happi- 
ness or misery is dependent on the way in w^hich it 
is exercised ; so important is it, that the wise and 
inspired man said, ''A good wife is from the Lord." 
'' See that ye love one another with a pure heart 
fervently," said the apostle Peter, when enjoining 
on the early converts the duties of the Christian 
life ; and if this is commanded to all, how much 




THE BENEFICENT WOMAN. 45 

more is it to be cultivated by those who are attached 
by the strongest domestic tie ! And as no marriage 
should be contracted without mutual love, so the 
principle of love should guide a woman in all her 
married life, and lead her always to do good to her 
husband. 

A wife can do much good to her husband by 
promoting his domestic comfort. This is, indeed, 
placed almost wholly in her hands ; it rests with 
her to see that the fireside is the place of attraction, 
that home is the brightest spot on earth. And love 
will teach ingenuity to the faithful wife, and show 
to her a thousand ways by which she may endear 
the home circle. If she wish to enjoy her husband's 
society, she must be a keeper at home ; and so 
arrange her family as that he, when he returns 
from the care and noise and contention of the world, 
shall find a retreat in which sweet converse shall 
beguile him of his cares, and peace, and love, and 
order, and gentle welcome, and soothing sympathy, 
shall form a striking contrast to the scenes he has 
just quitted. 

Another way in which we may feel certain that 
the matron of the text did good to her husband, 



46 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

was by sharing his cares. On many, in modem 
times, the charge is not incumbent of laboring with 
the hands to provide food and raiment for the family, 
as did this eminent example of female virtue. The 
different constitution of modern society has placed 
upon men the duty of maintaining a family, and 
left to woman the sweeter privilege of ordering the 
charities of home. Yet, even now, a wife may do 
much to lessen the cares of a husband. She may 
not fully understand the nature of his employments, 
she cannot exactly enter into the details of his 
business ; but she can give the attentive ear ; she 
can endeavor to comprehend his difficulties ; she 
can forbear the mention of any irritating domestic 
circumstances ; she can soften down annoyances. 
Sometimes she can cheer him by reminding him of 
some consoling promise of God's word. She can 
show him the command of holy writ, to cast his care 
upon God. She can tell him that '' they that seek 
the Lord shall not want any good thing," and per- 
haps lead him to say, with David, ^' What time I 
am afraid, I will trust in thee." And when all 
these fail, and her anxious eye sees the cloud still 
darken over his brow, then she can pray, with a 



THE BENEFICENT WOMAN. 47 

firm, unwavering faith, that God would indeed 
''lift up the light of his countenance upon him, and 
give him peace." 

Nor is it less her duty to share in his joys. If 
her husband have succeeded in some pursuit, with 
what heartiness should the wife enter into his pleas- 
ure ! Never should the wandering eye betray that 
she listens with indifference to the details which 
interest him. She should value his pursuits, if for 
no other reason than because they are his ; and by 
an ever ready sympathy should '' do him good, and 
not evil,'' all the days of her life. Never should 
the depressing fear or the ardent hope be thrown 
coldly back again on him who utters it. One such 
repulsion will do more to alienate the love of a 
sensitive mind than many little acts of neglect or 
annoyance. 

A wife will also do her husband good by encour- 
aging him to holiness and virtue, and warning him 
against sin. In the intimacy of domestic life, the 
first tendency to evil is sometimes evident to the 
wife, and it is her duty to rebuke with aU gentle- 
ness, and to plead with all earnestness, against 
conduct which may be displeasing to God and man. 



48 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

Abigail's reproof and counsel of David is a beauti- 
ful instance of womanly tact and delicacy thus 
employed. When Nabal, in return for David's 
kindness and protection, had contemptuously refused 
refreshments to the w^arrior shepherd, how does 
Abigail propitiate David's wrath, and dissuade him 
from revenge ! ''And it shall come to pass, when 
the Lord shall have done to my lord according to all 
the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and 
shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel ; that 
this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart 
unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood 
causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself." 
And, in like manner, how often may the wife 
expostulate with her husband, and thus keep him 
from evil that it may not grieve him ; and in after 
days he may look back with gratitude and affection 
for the warning voice which checked his onward 
course, and bade him pause and consider. 

The wife of the text did her husband no evil. 
She neither wasted his wealth nor neglected his 
comfort, nor was careless of his reputation, nor 
provoked him to anger. She loved him with a 
steady love, all the days of her life ; in joy and in 



THE BENEFICENT WOMAN. 49 

sorrow, in sickness and in health. Years passed 
on, and saw it fixed, while all around was changing. 
It was not like the vapory cloud upon the blue sky, 
driven about by every wind of heaven, and skim- 
ming lightly over the surface ; but as the rock in 
the midst of the waters, against which the waves 
might dash and bring no change, and on which all 
the alternations of sun and wind fell harmlessly, 
and which stood unshaken by all things. Seldom 
is love like this,— love which can bear the test of 
time and the shock of adversity, — love which can 
flourish even amid infirmities ; seldom is it found 
but in the home of the loved and loving. 

Thej who love us till we die, 

Who in sorrow have been tried, 
Who will watch our closing eye, 

When all grows cold beside : 
Where shall friends like these be found, 

Search the earth and ocean wide ; 
On what hallowed spot of ground. 

Save our own fireside ? 



50 



THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 



SECTION IV. 

SHE SEEKETH WOOL AND FLAX, AND WORKETH WILLINGLY WITH 
HER HANDS. 

[BVIOUSLY, the whole description 
' given by the inspired Avriter of the 
'employments of the Jewish matron 
belongs either to primitive ages, or 
to those pastoral regions of modern 
times, in which commerce with other 
* nations has made little progress, and for- 
eign manufactures are almost unknown. 
'Recently, the Hebrew people had been 
engaged continually in battle, and now the 
men of Israel were chiefly occupied with 
agriculture and pastoral employments. Trade with 
other lands was confined to occasional barter, and 
the various stuffs needful for the clothing of the 
household, though sometimes wrought by the pro- 
fessed weaver, were chiefly fabricated by the hands 
of the mistresses or maidens of the Jewish homes. 
Solomon, indeed, had fetched spices from Arabia, 
and fine linen from Egypt ; and, in his love for 




k^7 













THE ACTIVE WOMAN. 5 



f> 



natural history, had assembled in his capital the 
birds and animals of distant countries ; yet his 
traffic seems to have been almost confined to his 
own requirements, and not to have extended itself 
to his subjects. In such, a state of society, the 
domestic industry of the female part of the popula- 
tion becomes so necessary, that it is always encour- 
aged and valued. The ancient Romans, under 
circumstances somewhat similar, expected from 
their wives a great degree of attention to household 
employments, and this was enjoined by their mar- 
riage rites. So also among the Greeks, in the 
early ages of the world, the mistress worked with 
her servants, and the high-born lady, as well as the 
daughter of the peasant, performed those humble 
and more active duties generally left, in our time 
and country, to the poor. Homer intimates that 
the daughters of princes washed, in the fountain, 
the clothing of the family ; while from Scripture 
we learn that Rebecca, the heiress of a pastoral 
prince, gave drink to the servant of Abraham, and 
afterwards drew water for himself and his cattle, 
Rachel, too, the beautiful daughter of one who 
possessed sheep and herds in abundance, yet kept 
4 



54 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

her father's flocks on the plains of Syria, exposed 
to the scorching heat of day, if not to the heavy 
dews of night. Even now, in the pastoral regions 
of Asia, it is the glory of a woman that her own 
hand has wrought the clothing of her husband, son, 
or brother, and has decked the Avails of their dwell- 
ings ; and a helpless, useless woman would be 
despised by the other females of her tribe. 

So it was of old, 
That woman's hand, amid the elements 
Of patient industry and household good, 
Reproachless wrought, twining the slender thread 
From the light distaff; or in skilful loom 
Weaving rich tissues, or with glowing tints 
Of rich embroidery, pleased to decorate 
The mantle of her lord. And it was well ; 
For in such sheltered and congenial sphere 
Content with duty dwells. 

And this diligent industry, so applicable to the 
wants of the people, had its praise of God, while 
the luxurious and delicate habits of the daughters 
of Zion, in later ages, are marked with his displeas- 
ure. It is with stern reprobation that the prophet 
Isaiah speaks of the rings, and chains, and mufflers. 



THE ACTIVE AVOMAN. 55 

and fine linen, of the Jewish ladies, whose haughty 
demeanor called for the solemn threatenings of God ; 
and all whose ornaments were to be forgotten soon, 
when Zion, the faithless Zion, should be full of 
mourning and lamentation, and, ^' being desolate, 
should sit upon the ground." 

Owing to the almost unchanging customs of 
Eastern nations, the people of modern Palestine are 
probably clothed nearly in the same manner as the 
ancient Hebrews, and a variety of woollen and linen 
garments are still worn in that land. When Hannah 
made the young Samuel a little coat, and brought it 
to him, year by year, as she came up with her hus- 
band to the yearly sacrifice, she performed the part 
of a mother in Israel ; and, in all likelihood, carried 
to her beloved child a garment of pure white linen, 
or wool, for such were much worn by the ancient 
Jews, to whom frequent purifications and washings 
were commanded by Israel's God. It might have 
been, however, a coat, like that of Joseph, of many 
colors, for brilliant dyes and skilful embroidery 
were often used by the Israelites to ornament their 
dresses. One prohibition on the subject of woollen 
clothing had been given to the Jews. God had 



56 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

forbidden them to wear a garment made of woollen 
and linen, for in such a dress the heathen priests 
worshipped their false gods, in the superstitious 
hope of a blessing on their flax and their sheep ; 
and the one true God, the great Jehovah, would 
that his chosen race should come out from idolaters, 
and be a separate people. 

The excellent woman whom we are considering 
was evidently a person of wealth and distinction ; 
she was the wife of one who sat among the elders 
of the land, and we may reasonably suppose that 
she gathered the flax from her own fields, as well 
as that the wool was the produce of her own flocks. 
Flax was one of the plants earliest cultivated by 
mankind in masses. Its bright green stalks with- 
ered before the plague of hail which came upon 
Egypt, when the flax and barley were smitten ; 
and its bright blue flower seems to have been very 
abundant in 

That fertile land, where mighty Moses stretched 
His rod miraculous. 

A little later in the history of the world we find 
a woman preparing it for use ; for Eahab had laid 



THE ACTIVE WOMAN. 57 

the stalks of flax on the roof of her house, that the 
scorching sun and the damp Syrian dews might 
macerate its fibres, when the spies entreated her 
compassion, and were hidden by her among the 
half-dried plants. '' By comparing the several 
passages in Scripture,'' says Kitto, ^' in which flax 
is mentioned, we shall find the amount to be, that 
flax was cultivated to a considerable extent in Pal- 
estine ; that garments of it were worn not only by 
the priests and Levites, but very largely by the 
people. The coarse linen cloths were manufactured 
at home by the women, but the finer were imported 
from Egypt ; the ancient celebrity of which coun- 
try, for its linen fabrics, is abundantly confirmed in 
Scripture. We cannot find that flax is now much 
cultivated in Palestine, although considerable atten- 
tion is paid to the culture of cotton. It may be 
that the soil and climate are less suited than that 
of Egypt to its production." 

There is a cheerfulness and a heartiness in the 
character which the inspired writer gives of the 
Jewish woman. She ^^ worketh willingly," or, as 
some translate it, " with the delight of her hands ;" 

and it is this willingness which lends a grace to 

4^ 



58 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

every household employment, and infuses a spirit 
of alacrity into the daily duties of life. Cheerful 
willingness is no small virtue in a woman ; for the 
duties performed with a smiling countenance and a 
ready hand are far differently done from those which 
seem wrung out of necessity, and are accompanied 
by a mournful voice and a languid footstep. A 
willing mind is enjoined, by God's word, on every 
performance of duty. With the Most High, the 
motive of the heart is regarded, rather than the 
outward act. So we learn that, in working for 
God, ''if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted 
according to that a man hath, and not according to 
that he hath not:" while to both mistress and 
servant comes the exhortation respecting the humble 
duties of every-day life, " Whatsoever ye do, do it 
heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." 

If we consider the benefits which we hourly 
receive from the Great Giver of all good gifts, we 
shall see that a willing cheerfulness is indeed but 
the proper response which should be given by his 
human family. There may, it is true, be a cheer- 
fulness which is in no way connected with thank- 
fulness, but never yet was there a thankful spirit 



THE ACTIVE WOMAN. 59 

which did not lead to acts of cheerful service. 
And, notwithstanding the various sorrows which sin 
has brought into the world, yet how much remains 
to gladden the heart of one who is disposed to 
observe God's goodness ! How do all our senses 
minister to enjoyment ! The sense of touch and 
the sense of taste are continually gratified, and 
dehcious odors greet us from a thousand flowers. 
And the eye of man, how is it an inlet to wisdom, 
and what beautiful forms and what gorgeous color- 
ings please our sight, and thus charm our imagina- 
tion, till we are lost in wonder at the sublime, or 
melt in tenderness at lowly beauty ! And the ear, 
too, made as it is to receive the impression of all 
sweet sounds and concords, how do the tunes of 
birds, and the roar of waters, and the sweet tink- 
lings of the distant bell, and the low murmuring of 
the pleasant brooks, and the soothing influence of 
kindly voices, bring through it a song of joy to the 
spirit, or, sweeter still, a song of softened and pen- 
sive tunefulness. And when outward nature speaks 
to us through the senses, then and then only is it 
rightly received, while it tells of God and his good- 
ness ; and when the grateful heart prompts words 



60 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

of thankfulness to the ready tongue, and the willing 
hand performs the active service, in the spirit of 
him who said, '' What shall I render unto the Lord 
for all his mercies ? '' 

And if all might render willing service to God 
in acknowledgment of mercies, how much more 
shall the child of God be ready to perform every 
duty with an enlightened thankfulness ? To him is 
given the precious Bible ; on him are bestowed its 
promises, cheering him under every sorrow, and 
telling him that God is with him in the darkest hour, 
yea, even in the valley of the shadow of death. To 
him is access given to the throne of grace, so that 
his prayers rise up to God, through the intercession 
of the great Mediator. For him the Saviour lived 
a life of sorrow and humiliation, and died a dishon- 
ored death, that liis sins might be pardoned, and his 
soul saved from the wrath w^hich God denounces 
against the transgressors of his holy law. To him 
are often given holy aspirations after God's presence, 
and a sure sense of his love ; so that he seems able 
to join even in the songs of heaven, and his spirit 
seems carried away for a while from his earthly 
house up to that glorious home of rest wliich is 



THE ACTIVE WOMAN. 61 

eternal, and where God and the blessed angels shall 
at last receive him. 

Every one must have remarked how pleasant is 
that household in which a cheerful spirit of energy 
is cultivated by the mistress and mother. It is a 
pleasant thing to dwell with one who is not troubled 
by trifling annoyances, who is skilled in looking at 
the bright side of things, and hoping for the best ; 
with one who believes that all the ways of the Lord 
are right, and who attaches a deep importance to 
duty. Such a one will work willingly, in the belief 
that God has appointed both her lot and her duties ; 
and it is surprising how many obstacles are met and 
overcome by such a spirit. 

The wise and active conquer difficulties 
By daring to attempt them. Sloth and folly 
Shiver and shrink at sight of toil and trouble, 
And make the impossibilities they fear. 

The employments of daily life, of women espe- 
cially, need often the remembrance that they are 
done in the sight of him in whose eye the lowliest 
act is of importance. There are many persons who 
do not perform them well, because they do not look 



62 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

upon them as part of their religious duties. Such 
persons could perhaps make great sacrifices for con- 
science' sake ; they could act nobly and wisely if 
any great service were demanded ; hut they do not 
consider that the whole progress of human life con- 
sists of a succession of small acts. It is often with 
smaller duties as with smaller trials, that strength 
to do or to hear is not sought of God. Some great 
trial befalls us, some important sacrifice is required, 
and, feeling our helplessness, we fall back upon God, 
and support is given ; but every-day events are, by 
their very monotony, unimpressive ; we think lightly 
of them, and the help of God is not sought, and they 
are not duly considered, and so are performed in a 
careless, perhaps in an unwilling spirit. But he 
who is the Judge of all the earth looks down with 
approval on the mother whose life is one daily course 
of self-sacrifice, on the daughter whose gentle smiles 
and willing work render home happy, rather than on 
her who is roused from a course of usual listlessness 
to some one act of great exertion, or to some one 
costly deed of self-denial. The flash of lightning 
produces a great effect ; and the clearer air and the 
cloudless sky show that it has well performed God's 



THE ACTIVE WOMAN. 63 

mission; yet Tvho would not rather that her light 
should shine like that of the evening star, whose 
tranquil rays nightly guide the traveller home, and 
cheer the mariner on the deep, and smile sweetly 
on the shepherd who watches by his fold, till they 
" fade away into the light of heaven" ? 

Who 's born for sloth ? To some we find 
The ploughshare's annual toil assigned ; 
Some at the sounding anvil glow ; 
Some the swift-sliding shuttle throw ; 
Some, studious of the wind and tide, 
From pole to pole our commerce guide ; 
While some, of genius more refined. 
With head and tongue assist mankind. 
In every rank, or great or small, 
'T is industry supports us all. 



64 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 



SECTION V. 

SHE IS LIKE THE MERCHANTS' SHIPS; SHE BRINGETH HER FOOD 
EROM AFAR. 

'ERCHANTS' ships, in King Solo- 
|mon's days, might, indeed, be said to 
' bring their cargoes from afar. If we 
' look at the record of the sea voyages 
made at that time, when the Hebrew 
king was assisted by Hiram, who furnished 
pirn with " shipmen who had knowledge 
)of the sea," we shall find that they occu- 
pied a very considerable period. '' For the 
®king had at sea a navy of Tarshish with the 
navy of Hiram ; once in three years came 
the navy of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, 
ivory, and apes, and peacocks." The Phoenicians, 
who resided on the north-west of Palestine, are 
known to have had a commercial settlement, called 
Tartessus, on the Atlantic coast of Spain, near to 
the modern Cadiz ; and, whatever may be the 
various opinions respecting the situation of ancient 
Ophir, there is little doubt that this port was the 




THE ENTERPRISING WOMAN. 67 

Tarshish of the Scriptures. In the imperfect state 
of navigation, the voyages, performed as they were 
in small and ill-constructed vessels, would seem to 
the Israelites ''afar,'' indeed, and attended with 
very considerable peril. 

But, as food rather than other merchandise seems 
alluded to in the text, it is probable that the ships 
which brought corn from Egypt are here referred to. 
Although the ancient Hebrews were decidedly an 
agricultural community, and the rich valley of Pal- 
estine abounded in corn and wine, yet, in seasons 
of dearth, as well as on other occasions, the Jewish 
people appear to have traded with Egypt for corn. 
On the fertile lands of that well-watered country 
corn grew so abundantly that Egypt was the general 
granary of the East ; and the touching narrative of 
Joseph and his brethren at once occurs to the mind, 
as an instance in which men went down into Egypt 
to buy corn. 

The Israelites were by no means a maritime peo- 
ple ; yet bordered as the Holy Land was by the 
Great Sea, now called the Mediterranean, which 
was the very highway of commerce, and familiar 
as they were with the Nile, on whose shores their 
5 



68 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

fathers had rendered a hard service to the Hue of 
Pharaohs, they doubtless had many ships of burden, 
which were, at least, as well constructed as those 
in the w^estern parts of the world at the same period 
of time. It must be remembered that their vessels 
were almost exclusively ships of merchandise. As 
yet, no battle-ship had carried proud defiance to 
the peaceful shores ; no cannon thundered its awful 
challenges on the deep ; but the ship, in its occa- 
sional course over the waters, brought from afar the 
luxuries or the food of other lands, and bore in its 
welcome progress nothing to fill the heart with 
sorrow, or to leave a trace of that anguish and 
desolation which war brings so often now over the 
distant sea. 

Very early mention is made in Scripture of ships. 
" Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea ; and 
he shall be for an haven of ships," w^as the pro- 
phecy of the dying patriarch, as his eye, though 
dimmed to the sights of this world by the film of 
death, glanced forth and kindled at the view of 
futurity ; and yet no regular trade by sea seems to 
have been established in Solomon's day, since he 
was obliged to seek aid from Hiram. Many beau- 



THE ENTERPRISING WOMAN. 69 

tiful spots on the shores of the sea are familiar to 
Scripture readers, and the vessels which floated on 
the Lake of Gennesareth were often honored by 
the presence of Him who disdained not the poor 
and the lowly, but gathered his apostles from among 
fishermen, and, standing on the brow of a Jewish 
vessel, delivered to the people on the shore those 
beautiful parables, and those teachings of heavenly 
love and wisdom, which brought many to his feet 
as his disciples, and are now the treasure of mil- 
lions of hearts, to whom the truths taught by the 
Saviour are dearer than gold or silver, more pre- 
cious than life itself. 

The Jewish matron, whose various kinds of 
manufacture are so specifically named, would have 
much to offer in exchange either for corn or other 
commodities, w^hich the merchants' ships convey. 
Garments made of fine wool or of hair stuffs, 
gorgeous tapestry wrought by her own hands, fine 
linen girdles, — all were suitable objects of barter ; 
and the rich clusters of grapes w^hich her vineyard 
could furnish, and the well-dried flax from her 
fields, constituted a store from which something 
might be well spared. It seems probable, how- 



70 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

ever, that the articles chiefly sent by her, either to 
distant tribes, or perhaps occasionally to lands 
beyond the seas, were those costly and magnificent 
dresses Avhich form the wealth of the eastern 
female, and which are highly scented with per- 
fumes, anc* laid up for many years, to be brought 
out only on important occasions. The use of dresses 
also as presents, in the East, Avould render the bar- 
ter of them a very likely and considerable source 
of profit ; and this would enable this Jewish lady, 
whose intelligent and well-devoted industry is so 
often commended, to procure for her family some 
of those enjoyments from afar, which the home 
produce would not supply. 

Let us, then, be up and doing, 

With a heart for any fate ; 
Still achieving, still pursuing. 

Learn to labor and to wait. 







iP!5ET]S)>] 70) }^]"tn 3VJ^]T)l>lg. 



THE PROVIDENT WOMAN. r^ 



SECTION VI. 

SHE RISETH ALSO WHILE IT IS YET NIGHT, AND GIVETH MEAT TO 
HER HOUSEHOLD, AND A PORTION TO HER MAIDENS. 

^- PEOVERB in the preceding part 
of this book says that '^ every wise 
•woman buildeth her house, while 
'the foolish plucketh it down with 
her hands." The stability and com- 
fort of the household are, indeed, so 
I dependent on the domestic arrangements 
of her who presides, — punctuality and 
order in the wife are so necessary for the 
preservation of the property which may 
have been acquired, — that the truth of the 
old Irish saying, ^'A man must ask his wife's 
leave to be rich," is very apparent. Early risers 
will not often be found among those whose habits 
are irregular and disorderly. The practice of 
beginning the work with the commencement of the 
day is almost always found in conjunction with 
punctual and diligent habits, and with such love of 
order and management as is described in the text. 
5* 




A THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

The learned Aben Ezra poetically interprets the 
expression of the former part of the Averse, " She 
riseth before the ascent of day.'' Early rising in 
the East is different from that of our native land. 
To be up with the lark, or when the robin is first 
uttering his morning song, — to brush away the 
pearls from the grass, while the sun is just driving 
afar the gray mists of the morning, — this is, with 
us, to rise early. But the diligent man of eastern 
lands is up long before sunrise, long before 

" Morn, her rosy steps 
Advancing, sows the earth with orient pearls;" 

and has begun his labor at an hour when the Euro- 
pean is sleeping still, with the sound sleep of mid- 
night. And when the dawn breaks over the vine- 
yards of Palestine, and the sun sheds his red 
lustre on her ruddy hills, the vine-dresser has 
tended his vine, and the shepherd has led forth his 
flock from the fold. In the city, too, the merchant 
is busy in the shop ; and the courtier and the king 
are occupied in the business of the court ; and the 
women are spinning the web of industry. Among 
the Hebrews, it was also customary for the diligent 



THE PKOVIDENT WOMAN. 75 

women to be up earlier than the men ; for adding 
to the usual domestic employments of females in 
general the duty of manufacturing various fabrics 
of use or merchandise, the day was never too long 
for their busy skill, and they knew nothing of that 
weariness which belongs to the idle, and which 
deprives them of that freshness and energy of char- 
acter which make existence a blessing. 

We find continual reference in Scripture to the 
habit of beginning the business of the day at a very 
early hour in the morning. Thus, when Moses was 
sent to Pharaoh, by the Lord God of the Hebrews, 
and the haughty king was commanded to let the 
people of Israel go out from their cruel bondage, 
the Jewish lawgiver was commanded to rise up 
early in the morning, and to stand before Pharaoh 
as ''he cometh forth to the water." And when 
the vain and deceitful Absalom sought to win away 
the hearts of Israel from their allegiance to his 
father, " he rose up early, and stood beside the way 
of the gate" of the city; for he well kncAV, that, 
passing through its arches, he should meet those 
who were going out of the town to the daily labor 
of the fields, or find there assembled the concourse 



76 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

of merchants. And in that day of Israel's affliction 
and reproach, when the walls of Jerusalem had 
been broken down, and the gates thereof burned 
with fire, and Nehemiah and the Jews labored 
amidst danger and anxiety to build again the walls 
of their beloved city, we find them early at their 
work, cheered by the promises and prayers of the 
diligent prophet ; and while some labored, half of 
them ''held the spears from the rising of the 
morning till the stars appeared." And well would 
it be for us if we could return to the early rising 
and retiring, once general even in our own land, 
when our forefathers saw the sun set on their native 
hills, and slept on their less luxurious couches, at 
an hour far earlier than the business of the day now 
closes on busy multitudes. 

The description given by the Hebrew writer is so 
graphic, that our imaginations can easily picture 
the Jewish matron, as surrounded by her family at 
early day, and apportioning to each of her house- 
hold, not only daily food, but also daily work. 
One is going to the field ; another, to relieve the 
herdsman who has watched through the starry night 
on the hill-side, or on the plain. Her daughters 



THE PROVIDENT WOMAN. 77 

and her maidens will ply the distaff, or with the 
needle weave delicate embroideries ; and the 
materials for the work of each must be selected, 
and, by a judicious division of labor, all be made 
easy. And in this diligent and well-ordered fomily, 
not only must the domestic animals be cared for, 
but the young infant must be tended, and the older 
child taught to walk in wisdom's v/ays, and to know 
the law of the God of Israel. The word here 
translated '' portion'' seems certainly to include 
work as well as food. The Targum renders it by 
service, and interprets the passage as meaning 
employment, rather than a portion of daily meat. 
The same word is used in Exodus 5 : 14, when the 
task-masters of the children of Israel demanded, 
'^ Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in 
making brick both yesterday and to-day as hereto- 
fore ?" The Septuagint, as well as the Syriac and 
Arabic versions, render the word ''works." 

The ancient custom of dividing the food into 
separate portions is alluded to not only in several 
parts of the Sacred Scripture, but is frequently 
mentioned by profane writers. Thus, when the 
ambassadors of Agamemnon were received at the 



78 THE EXCELLENT AVOMAN. 

table of Achilles, the warrior distributed to every 
man his portion. Among the Romans an officer 
presided over this distribution at the ancient meal, 
and seems to have borne a similar office to him who 
is mentioned, in the narrative of the marriage of 
Cana, as the governor of the feast. And when 
Joseph entertained his brethren vdio had come up 
to Egypt, we mark how, with the peculiar love 
Avhich the man of the East feels for the brother who 
claims the same mother as himself, he apportioned 
to his beloved Benjamin a mess five times as large 
as that of any of his other brethren. Not but that 
each had a portion large enough for his refresh- 
ment, but that a stronger warmth of hospitality 
might mark his deeper love to him whom his dying 
mother had called " the son of my sorrow." 

The right economy of time is a highly important 
duty. To those who are called to exercise the 
duties of active life, this is very evident. The mis- 
tress, the mother, and the domestic servant, ihese 
will all feel the value of time ; yet no gift is more 
often wasted by those to whom God has allotted a 
large portion of leisure. The waste of time is a sin 
especially chargeable on a large number of the 



THE PROVIDENT WOMAN. 79 

female sex in the present day. Hours are wasted 
in frivolous accomplishments ; in the performance 
of some of the lighter works of art ; in dissipated 
visiting ; in reading novels and idle books, and in 
absolute lounging and indolence ; so that if we could 
trace the history of the life of many an English 
woman, we should find her employments of little 
more worth to herself and others than those of the 
butterfly which skims from flower to flower, the gay 
creature of the summer's day. And yet to every 
reasonable being existence brings an amount of 
responsibility which w^e shall comprehend only in 
eternity. Time is given us for duty, for the prep- 
aration for a future state, for the good of others ; 
and every fragment of it should be gathered up, 
that nothing of so precious a gift may be lost. It 
should become a subject of deep and frequent 
thought to every woman, and especially to every 
Christian woman, whether her time is rightly spent. 
Owing to the great improvements in manufactures, 
and the high civilization of modern society, women 
in the middle and higher classes of life are rarely 
required to apply unremittingly to any pursuit 
which can be called toil or labor. Many have no 



80 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

pursuit at all. And is there nothing to do, that 
God should look down on the couch of the luxurious, 
when the morning sun has long shed his light on its 
drapery, and should see the sleeper still seeking 
repose ? Is there nothing that the daughter or sister 
can do to lighten the cares or anxieties of parents or 
brothers ? Is there no active duty, which, if cheer- 
fully done, would make home happier ? If we are 
not required, like the excellent women of old, to 
rise while it is yet night, and to apportion to those 
of our household food or work, yet there is still 
enough to do. There are our hearts to examine, as 
in the sight of God. There are prayer and medita- 
tion, and reading of the Scripture, all best done in 
the quiet of early day, ere the noise and tumult of 
the tempting world have distracted the thoughts. 
David could say, when referring to his moments of 
prayer, ''My soul prevented the dawning of the 
morning," and could deem it a ''good thing" to 
" show forth the loving kindness of the Lord in the 
morning;" and as his soul thirsted for God, he 
exclaimed, " Early will I seek thee." In the 
solemn moment of approaching suffering, our Saviour 



THE PROVIDENT WOMAN. 81 

himself rose a great while before day, that he might 
commune with his Father. 

But, beside the study of God's word, there is 
also the duty of mental improvement. For this end, 
we should seek to redeem the time, and see that the 
early hours are not wasted. An hour gained daily 
from sleep, — how much might be done with this, 
in the study of any valuable species of knowledge ! 
How much might we learn of any one portion of 
nature, by an hour of daily reading and observation ! 
And does not nature tell of God ? It is not the 
stars alone, and the sun and moon, which speak of 
God's greatness and power, and so from day unto 
day utter speech, and from night unto night teach 
knowledge. All his w^orks praise him. The sea, 
with its ebb and flow, and changing tides, and all its 
curious store of weeds and corals, and its silver- 
spangled fishes, has a wondrous lesson to teach the 
docile spirit, of God's power and love. The softly- 
flowing stream, gladdening the verdant herbage, and 
serving as a home of happiness to the living crea- 
tures which inhabit it, and as a scene of sport to the 
brilliant- winged insects, of all the bright hues of 

earth and heaven, which hover above it ; the flowery 
6 



82 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

meadow and the dark-robed forest ; the bird, with 
its plumage dipped in hues of Paradise, and its song 
suggesting thoughts of poetry, — all, all have been 
studied by human minds, which have lived in ages 
before we were born, and their wonders and their 
histories have been traced by human pens, and we 
may read l^heir records in books, and learn their 
teachings beneath the morning sunshine. And 
health, too, that valuable blessing, how greatly is it 
promoted by early hours ! Many diseases, and 
especially those called nervous disorders, were 
almost unknown in Britain a few ages since, when 
luxury had not yet made it a common practice to 
be found in bed in full day. Many serious illnesses 
would take their flight before the long-continued and 
diligent practice of an early morning walk ; and the 
cheek now pale from indolent habits, and the eye 
now dim from want of the exercise required by the 
frame, might glow and sparkle with the bloom and 
vigor of life, if, like the country laborer or the 
diligent rustic maiden, and the excellent woman of 
the text, we should rise Avith the ascent of day. 
And if we redeemed an hour in the morning, it 
might leave us one in the after day to visit the poor 



THE PROVIDENT WOMAN. 83 

and afflicted, to instruct the ignorant, to help those 
who need our aid. If household duties demanded 
exertion, then the gained hour might enable us to 
pass through them more leisurely and more pleas- 
antly, and we might be saved the irritation of 
hurried business ; or, if we gave that hour to God, 
who shall say what blessings our prayers might 
bring down on ourselves and on those dear to us, 
— on the church of God and on the w^orld at large ! 

Her might is gentleness ; slie winneth sway 
By a soft word and softer look ; 
Where she, the gentle, loving one, hath failed, 
The proud or stern might never yet succeed. 

Strength, power and majesty, belong to man ; 
They make the glory native to his life ; 
But sweetness is a woman's attribute ; 
By that she reigns, and will forever reign. 

There have been some who, with a mightier mind, 
Have won dominion ; but they never won 
The dearer empire of the beautiful, — 
Sweet sovereif>:ns of their natural loveliness. 



84 



THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 



SECTION VII. 

SHE CONSIDERETH A FIELD, AND BUYETH IT; WITH THE FRUIT OF 
HER HANDS SHE PLANTETH A VINEYARD. 

HILE we observe how various were 
;the employments of the Hebrew 
' woman, we cannot fail to remark the 
great and entire confidence which 
^must have been placed in her by her 
'husband. That he should leave to her 
care the management of her house and 
^^ servants, and in great measure the train- 
' ing of her children, seems, at all times, 
^natural, and in the state of society we are 
ryj^ considering, peculiarly so ; but we should 
scarcely expect to find a Jewish female left so 
entirely to her own judgment in matters of business. 
It was probably, however, not unusual at this time. 
Abigail, the wife of Nabal, seems to have had an 
entire command over the family property, when she 
hesitated not to take two hundred loaves, and two 
bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and 
fruits and other valuable articles of food, and give 




THE MANAGING WOMAN. 87 

them to David. That the woman of the text was 
worthy of this entire coni&dence is very evident, 
for hers was the systematic industry of a well- 
ordered mind, and not the occasional result of mere 
impulse. She deliberated on the best plan to be 
pursued. She saw that her children were rising 
up, her household numerous, her husband a man of 
wealth and distinction ; and the requirements of 
such a family demanded a careful consideration. 

Perhaps, in looking around her in order to make 
a provision for an increasing household, the eye of 
the Hebrew woman often rested on some field of 
waving corn which lay near her own estate ; and 
she saw, in its golden ears, the prospect of an 
abundant store for the food of her family ; and then, 
with the fruits of her own hands, the works which 
her own fingers had wrought, she purchased the 
land. The luxuriant vegetation of the vineyard, 
watered by the fruitful rill, or lying on the hill-side, 
where the morning sun shed most of his light and 
warmth, would attract her notice, and the wild 
roses, and the bright pomegranates, shedding the 
deep red lustre of their flowers in the hedges which 
surrounded it, and wafting to her some of the 
6* 



88 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

sweetest of eastern odors, would convince her that 
the soil which yielded them would repay careful 
culture. 

The rich drapery of the vine, though now less 
cultivated in the Holy Land, once formed one of 
its most striking and picturesque objects. Far away 
over the hills of the then fruitful, though now neg- 
lected Palestine, might be heard the joyous song 
of the vine-dressers, speaking of peace and plenty, 
and attesting the happy feeling and the joyous 
emotion of the natives of a pure and lovely climate, 
whose animal spirits and earnest feelings seemed 
wrought upon by the gladness of nature, till they 
flowed forth in song. And many a pious Israelite 
may have sung Avith the sweet singer of his country, 
" The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof;'' 
and as he looked upon his rich corn-fields, have 
chanted gladly, ''Thou visitest the earth, and 
waterest it ; thou greatly enrichest it with the river 
of God, which is full of water ; thou preparest 
them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. Thou 
crownest the year with thy goodness ; and thy 
paths drop fatness." 

But although the modern inhabitant of Palestine 



THE MANAGING IVOMAN. 89 

no longer labors assiduously, as did the ancient 
Israelite, to render his beautiful land an earthly 
paradise, though in many parts joy and gladness 
have ceased from the fruitful field, and all the 
daughters of music are brought low, yet the vine- 
yards are often beautiful still. On the Syrian hills 
and plains may yet be seen the tower or the lonely 
cottage in a vineyard, on which the eye of the 
evangelical prophet rested when he foretold the 
desolation of the daughter of Zion ; or when he 
spake of the vineyard in the fruitful hill, planted 
with the choicest vine, in which the lord of the 
vineyard built a tower, and made a wine-press, and 
looked for the grateful fruits of his culture, and 
found nothing but wild grapes, — sad emblem of the 
sins and idolatries which ran wild in the heart of 
God's chosen and cherished people. In this tower 
of the vineyard were kept, in former days, and may 
stiU be seen, the various implements of husbandry, 
and all the means of pressing the grapes and 
making them into wine, so that it may be called 
''the farm of the vineyard." But the chief use 
of the tower, both in ancient and modern times, is 
as a dweUing-place and defence to the keeper of the 



90 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

vineyard, who, when the grapes are ripening, takes 
his station there, lest others should deprive him of 
the produce of his labor. McCheyne, describing 
the vineyards of Hebron, as he saw them in the 
year 1842, says, " They are of the most rich and 
fertile description, each one having a tower in the 
midst for the keeper of the vineyards. We were 
told that bunches of grapes from these vineyards 
sometimes weigh six pounds, every grape of which 
weighs six or seven drachms. Sir Moses Montefiore 
mentioned that he got here a bunch of grapes about 
a yard in length." 

It is not possible for the reader of Scripture to 
have passed unnoticed the various allusions to the 
culture of the grape by the Hebrews. The great 
care which they bestowed on their vineyards, in 
selecting an appropriate spot of land for their 
growth, as well as in training the vine, is very 
apparent from the records of Holy Writ. Almost 
every part of Palestine is favorable to the culture 
of the grape ; but the grapes of Eshcol, and Car- 
mel, and Hermon, and the wines of Lebanon, were 
ever renowned for their sweetness, and are still 
unrivalled in the land of the sun. Sometimes the 



THE MANAGING WOMAN. 91 

luxuriant plant hung its graceful festoons about the 
reed trellis ; at others it clung from pole to pole, 
or clad the wooden palisade with a garment of 
verdure. Often, too, the vine-dresser directed its 
flexible branches over the side of the sunny wall, 
and then its boughs, as they ran over their support, 
suggested such images as lingered in the mind of 
the dying Jacob, when, describing the fruitfulness, 
and alluding to the protection given by his beloved 
son, he, in the figurative language of the eastern 
husbandman, said, ''Joseph is a fruitful bough, 
even a fruitful bough by the side of a well ; whose 
branches run over the wall." 

Frequent and beautiful as are the poetic figures 
of the Old and New Testament, yet no object of 
nature furnished so great a variety of allusions as 
did the vine. "Wherever the ancient Israelite 
looked around, there its broad leaves and wide- 
spreading boughs, and its purple clusters, caught 
his eye ; and the holy prophet of old, and the 
Divine Saviour himself, ever ready to lead the mind 
from the fields of nature to the field of holy thought 
and spiritual communion, failed not to associate 
with it such lessons of joy and thankfulness, or of 



92 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

solemn admonition, as might recur again and again, 
in after ages, to him who walked in the vineyard. 
In the earliest parable of Scripture, that of the 
Trees choosing a King, we find the vine, in the 
language of allegory, exclaiming, " Shall I leave 
my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to 
be promoted over the trees V thus adverting to the 
use of wine in sacrifice, or to the first-fruit offering 
of the grape on the altar of God, as well as to its 
benefit to mankind. In that beautiful lament of 
forsaken Israel, expressed in Psalm Ixxx., the 
writer portrays the sorrows of the church of God, 
under the image of a vine ; and carries out, through 
a long succession, a series of figures so beautiful 
and touching, that he who now reads it mourns 
over ancient Israel's woes, and remembers, too, 
periods in the history of the Christian church when 
the vine seemed indeed trodden down, and when, 
for ''a small moment," God '^ hid his face" from 
his people. " Once," says the sorrowing Asaph, 
" the hills were covered with the shadow of it, and 
the boughs were like goodly cedars. She sent out 
her boughs to the sea, and her branches unto the 
river. Now the boar out of the wood doth waste 



THE MANAGING WOMAN. 93 

it, and the wild beast of the field dotli devour it/' 
And surely as we look upon God's ancient people, 
and see how their loved and holy city is trodden 
down of the Gentiles, we should breathe the aspi- 
ration of the Psalmist, " Return, we beseech thee, 
God of Hosts ; look down from heaven, and 
behold, and visit this vine ; and the vineyard which 
thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that 
thou madest strong for thyself." In later days, our 
Saviour told his disciples, '' I am the true vine, and 
my Father is the husbandman. As the branch 
cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the 
vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." 
Then perchance he looked from the table, around 
which the disciples were gathered, and saw the 
graceful plant waving to the gentle summer wind, 
and putting forth its fruits for the vintage. 

There is something pleasing in considering the 
Hebrew matron in the text as planting a vineyard 
for the use of her family. It was not enough for 
her that only what was absolutely needed should be 
supplied. She acted in the wise and beneficent 
spirit of the great Creator, who scatters, with liberal 
hand, not only the supply of our necessities, but 
the means of enjoyment ; who charms the eye with 



94 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

verdure, and the ear with the songs of nature. We, 
in our northern climate, can scarcely form an idea 
of the value of the vineyard to an eastern family ; 
the cooling shade of its overhanging boughs, in a 
land where the sun shines hotly through the long 
summer day, is indeed delightful ; and in the Syrian 
vine-clad arbor, the Jewish families assembled, as 
do the natives of modern Palestine, beneath the 
vine and fig-tree. There, in pleasant groups, sit- 
ting in the soft air, we can fancy the pious mother, 
surrounded by her family, speaking with cheerful 
and thankful spirit of God's goodness to them all, 
and partaking together with them of the large 
clusters of yellow or purple fruits, gathered from 
the boughs. There lay the goodly cluster, and 
each took from it the welcome refreshment ; and 
of the fruits which were to spare, the laborer gath- 
ered and packed in baskets, and probably laid, as 
they would do now, the broad palm-leaves above 
them, to preserve their coolness. 

The month of October is that of the vintage ; and 
on the hills once trod by the feet of the patriarchs 
the autumnal vintage is yet gathered. The Christian 
inhabitants of Lebanon, and other parts of Palestine, 
cultivate the grape for wine, both for themselves 



THE MANAGING WOMAN. 95 

and for exportation ; and the Moslems, as they do 
not drink wine, value the vine for its shadow, its 
fresh fruit, and for the raisins which they dry 
from it ; besides that, vinegar is made from the 
grape, and the vine-leaves are eaten by cattle. 
This latter practice is referred to in the Jewish law, 
w^here Moses commands, ''If a man shall cause a 
field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his 
beast, and shall feed in another man's field ; of the 
best of his own field, and of the best of his own 
vineyard, shall he make restitution." Chandler 
says of this practice in the East : '' We remarked 
that about Smyrna the leaves were decayed or 
stripped by the camels and herds of goats, which 
are admitted to browse after the vintage." 

Travellers who now visit the Holy Land are 
struck, how^ever, with the desolate appearance 
exhibited by spots once famous for corn and wine, 
and the luxuriant vegetation of the East. God has 
turned ''the fruitful land into barrenness, for the 
wickedness of them that dwelt therein." The old 
inhabitants of the land of the Hebrew^s are scattered 
as God predicted ; and the thin population of 
strangers who now dwell there take little pains to 
7 



96 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

cherish the soil. The want of agricultural industry- 
is everywhere apparent ; and he who loves the hill 
of Zion and the mountains about Jerusalem, because 
associated in his mind with all that is holy and all 
that is dear, longs for that glorious day when the 
Jews shall again be gathered under their native 
vines and fig-trees. 

It is thought by most writers that the autumnal 
feast of Tabernacles, held by the Jews, had especial 
reference to the ingathering of the vineyard. 
" When ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, 
ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days,'' 
were the words which enjoined this festival. The 
Syrian winter does not commence until December; 
and in that pleasant climate the month of October 
was well suited for the joyous out-door life which 
ancient Israel spent on this occasion. Then the 
song of praise and gratitude went up from the 
arbors formed of the '^boughs of goodly trees, 
branches of palm-trees, and the boughs of thick 
trees, and willows of the brook." Then a loud 
burst of national thanksgiving was offered to the 
God who brought his people into a land flowing with 
milk and with honey ; and every Jewish family 
brought its tribute of gratitude and praise. 





Ihl^^ gT^i!Kl©TIHI[lKl[liri}=] 

H E T3 ^nm^.\ 



THE ENERGETIC WOMAN. 



99 



SECTION VIII. 

SHE GIEDETK HER LOINS WITH STRENGTH, AND STRENGTHENETH 

HER ARMS. 



EFERENCE is had, in this figurative 
' expression, to the practice of girding 
^tightly for any great exertion. The 
girdle which confines the loose and 
^flowing garments of the native of the 
East is broad and long, and can, when 
^occasion requires it, be bound several 
' times round the waist and over the chest. 
This tight girding enables the men of 
* oriental countries to perform wonderful feats 
of strength, especially in running ; as they 
wiU make a journey of several miles, keeping pace 
with a horseman, or with the chariot of the great 
man. Sometimes the girdle is so tightly bound as 
to endanger life ; and the editor of the '^ Pictorial 
Bible" mentions that he saw, at Ispahan, a pillar 
raised to mark the spot on which one of these 
tightly-girded runners expired, in attempting to 
stoop to the ground. 




100 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

Scripture contains many references to this prac- 
tice of girding. Thus we read, that when the 
prophet Elijah accompanied the bold and wicked 
king, ''he girded up his loins, and ran before 
Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel." Even on occa- 
sions which demanded less exertion, it was usual to 
gather up the garment imder the girdle, lest it 
might incommode the progress of the wearer. So 
our blessed Saviour represents the master as 
addressing his servant, '' Make ready Avherewith I 
may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have 
eaten and drunken;" and, when urging his disci- 
ples to a constant readiness for that spiritual warfare 
which they must encounter, and that watchfulness 
which the servants of the Lord must always exer- 
cise, he said, '' Let your loins be girded about, and 
your lights burning ; and ye yourselves like unto 
men that wait for their lord." 

This figure of girding the loins would be espec- 
ially expressive to the eastern, as well as to the 
ancient Greek and Roman people, among whom the 
practice prevailed. With the latter, it was con- 
sidered very effeminate for a man to be seen abroad 
either without his girdle, or loosely girded ; and to 



THE ENERGETIC WOMAN. 101 

be ungirt became an expression of an unmanly 
luxury. Sulla reproached Caesar that he was 
ungirt ; and Msecenas was blamed because he wore 
his girdle loosely. 

Boothroyd renders the passage. 

She girdetli up her loins for strength, 
And by exercise giveth vigor to her arms ; 

and it very evidently implies that she preserved her 
health by the very best means — that of cheerful and 
earnest employment. When we look at our bodily 
frames, and see how they are formed for exercise, ^ — 
when we mark how the muscles of the active arm 
are firm, and those of the indolent soft and tender, — 
we see something of the bodily ills to which indo- 
lence exposes, and are convinced that a healthy 
frame can be preserved only by a due attention to 
activity ; and when we mark, too, how painful and 
w^eary a thing sickness is, and how great is the 
physical enjoyment of health, it seems strange that 
exercise is so much neglected by thousands who 
have the means of taking it. How much exquisite 
enjoyment is afforded by the mere possession of 
health! — the pure taste, the high spirits, which 



102 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

render existence itself an enjoyment and a blessing ; 
the good humor, the pleasure in innocent delights, 
the light and refreshing sleep, the appetite which 
needs no dainties, the untiring footstep, and the 
placid breathing, which scarcely quickens at the 
ascent of the mountain ! 0, if some of those of 
the female sex, who now spend their days on sofas, 
and their nights in unquiet dreams, would, like the 
excellent w^oman, strengthen their arms by exercise, 
and gird up their loins by some vigorous employ- 
ment, how great a change should come over their 
constitutions, and how great a blessing should they 
gain for themselves ! 

There are also higher considerations than those 
of mere enjoyment which should induce us to cul- 
tivate the means of health. To do so is a religious 
duty. Health is one of the gifts which God has 
bestowed for usefulness — one of those talents of 
which he has said, '' Occupy till I come ;" and if 
it be wasted either by intemperance, indolence, or 
carelessness, we shall have to account for it at the 
great and solemn day of final retribution. If the 
hand of God deprive us of it, then may we calmly 
say, " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken 



THE ENERGETIC WOMAN. 103 

away; blessed be the name of the Lord;" and 
appropriate the blessed promises to suJDferers con- 
tained in Holy Writ ; and while we remember that 
they also serve God who only stand and wait, we 
may learn many blessed lessons, when, like David, 
we can say, '' Before I was afflicted I went astray ; 
but now I have kept thy word." But if God has 
given us a robust constitution, or at least one that 
might, by exertion, be rendered such, then our very 
sickness is a sin. " Health," says Jeremy Taylor, 
*' is the opportunity of wisdom, the fairest scene 
of religion, the advantages of the glorification of 
God, and the charitable ministries of men ; it is a 
state of joy and thanksgiving, and in every one of 
its periods feels a pleasure from the blessed emana- 
tions of a merciful Providence. No organs, no 
lute, can sound out the praises of the Almighty 
Father so spritefuUy as the man that rises from his 
bed of sorrows, and considers what an excellent 
difference he feels from the groans and intolerable 
accents of yesterday." Health carries us to the 
place of worship, and helps us to rejoice in the 
communion of saints. 

But though the text has an especial reference to 



104 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

the strengthening of the body, yet that vigorous 
resokition inculcated by the apostle Paul may also 
be intimated here : " Wherefore," says the inspired 
writer, " gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, 
and hope to the end." A holy resolution, a moral 
courage, a steady determination in all things to obey 
the voice of conscience, seems a strong feature of 
the character of the Jewish woman. It is true that 
no resolution made in our own strength can avail 
us. Our hearts are sinful by nature, and ever 
ready to depart from God and holiness. Satan, 
like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, 
is ever watching to hinder the progress of every 
right resolve. The world, with its anxious cares 
on the one hand, and its fascinating vanities on the 
other, is present with us to banish every pious 
motive, and drive us into forgetfulness and sinful 
weakness. Yet, unless we resolve rightly, we 
cannot act rightly ; and there is a way of keeping 
the promise made to our own hearts and to God. 
There is a strength given to all who humbly ask it, 
in the name of the Great Mediator ; a strength to 
will, to do, and to endure, even to the death ; a 
strength, given by God, enabling the timid to be 



THE ENERGETIC WOMAN. 105 

brave, and imparting a consistent firmness, even to 
those who feel themselves ready to be shaken by 
every breeze. But unless we seek from Heaven 
this consistent- jSrmness of principle, our goodness 
shall be but as the morning cloud, and as the early 
dew that passeth away. Without it, no Christian 
course can be a happy or a useful one. It is not 
enough to know and approve what is right. Prin- 
ciple must be acted upon, whether the world smile 
or condemn ; and the diligent and steady cultiva- 
tion of firmness be sought in humble dependence 
on God. And as the eastern traveller girded his 
garments from the dust, so, too, must Christians 
keep themselves unspotted from the contamination 
of vain intercourse, and the defilement of sin ; and 
as the Hebrew matron girded herself for strength, 
so should w^e strive to invigorate our principles by 
holy determination, by steady watchfulness, and by 
humble prayer ; so that we may say with the 
apostle, '' I can do all things through Christ which 
strengtheneth me." 

" Weak as I am, yet, through thy grace, 
I all things can perform." 



106 



THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 



SECTION IX. 

SHE PERCEIVETH THAT HER MERCHANDISE IS GOOD; HER CANDLE 
GOETH NOT OUT BY NIGHT. 

^ROM the regular and constant iiidus- 
^try for which the excellent woman is 
[commended, it is evident that the 
work which she wrought, or which 
[she superintended, would be of a good 
land valuable description. Diligence and 
/perseverance in any pursuit give skill 
[and taste in its performance, and enable 
w^orker to excel one who is little inter- 
^ested in his work. Such a matron would, in 
time, become known and confided in for 
promptness and regularity, and for durable and 
beautiful workmanship ; and as Boothroyd renders 
the passage, would see ''that her traffic is profit- 
able." The tapestry, and girdles, and garments, 
all carefully woven and beautifully ornamental, 
would not disappoint the purchaser, who expected 
them, perhaps, to last a lifetime ; and the maker 
would soon gain an established reputation among 




■s.^-^ *' ' I,' 'I '^ 




I 

'O IJ -7 B T ?ii ] .§ >] 7 , 



THE VIGILANT WOMAN. 109 

those who bought, and thus in every way her mer- 
chandise would be good. 

Archbishop Cranmer renders this verse : ''If 
she perceives that her merchandise is good, her 
candle goeth not out by night.'' This might sig- 
nify, that if, on any particular occasion, this Jewish 
lady saw some desirable object of purchase, she 
and her maidens Vv^ould work long and diligently, 
even till night was far advanced, in order to procure 
it in exchange for her manufactures. Be that as it 
may, however, it is no uncommon thing, either in 
our own or other lands, for those engaged in manu- 
factures to fulfil any large order by occasionally 
spending even a part of the night in its execution. 
In those eastern dwellings in which stuffs are made, 
there is great attention to business ; and it some- 
times occurs, that not only a busy group work from 
before the dawn till day is over, but that parties of 
workers are employed through the night, one party 
rising to work when the other retires to repose. 

Dr. Clarke suggests that this burning of the 
lamp, however, implies rather a careful vigilance 
than a perpetual industry in the Hebrew mistress. 
He suggests that it was probably burned on account 



110 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

of the numerous banditti and lawless men, from 
various wandering tribes, who might come suddenly 
and endanger the family during the hours of dark- 
ness ; and this caution to avert an ill, rather than 
to suffer it, well corresponds with the general char- 
acter given by the description of the poem. 

It appears to have been a very common practice 
among the ancient Hebrews, as it is now with 
nations of the East, for careful persons to burn a 
lamp by night in their dwellings. Candles are not 
burned in any oriental country, and therefore the 
word thus rendered refers to the lamp, of which we 
have so many notices in Scripture. Even as early 
as the time of Abraham we find a ^' burning lamp'' 
mentioned, which appeared to him as a revelation 
from God. Gideon, when he led out his men 
against the host of Midian, bade them take their 
lamps in their pitchers ; and from these early 
records of patriarchal times, even to the days of 
those v/hose pens concluded the pages of Holy Writ, 
we find the lamp and the oil continually referred 
to. Lamps were used in the tabernacle, and at 
marriage festivals were hung around the room, and 
cast down their light from above. Herodotus 



THE VIGILANT WOMAN. Ill 

describes the lamps of the ancient Egyptians as 
'' small vases, filled with salt and olive oil, in which 
the wick floated and burned during the whole 
night ;'' and as this description of the lamp exactly 
accords with the eastern lamp of modern usage, it 
seems probable that it was also a common form of 
the Jewish lamp. Many lamps, too, appear, like 
that of our engraving, to have had a small handle, 
for the convenience of removing them from, place 
to place. Vegetable oil of some kind, and most 
probably exclusively olive oil, was burned by the 
Hebrews. Thus we find Moses commanding the 
Israelites to prepare the lamp for the tabernacle, 
which was to burn from evening to morning before 
the Lord : '' Thou shalt command the children of 
Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for 
the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.'' The 
wicks of the lamps were made of the coarser fibres 
of flax ; and the Eabbins record, that the old linen 
garments of the priests were unravelled, to furnish 
those of the sacred lamps in the tabernacle. 

The general use of the lamp naturally made it a 
frequent subject of metaphor and simile among 
ancient writers. Thus the wise man says, " The 
8 



112 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

light of the righteous rejoiceth ; but the lamp of 
the wicked shall be put out ;" and again, the sud- 
den extinction of the lamp served as a figure to 
express the wrath of God against him who cursed 
father or mother ; for '^his lamp shall be put out 
in obscure darkness." Many writers think that the 
expression '^ outer darkness," often used in Scrip- 
ture, refers to the contrast of the outward darkness 
of night, when compared with that of the chamber 
in which it was so customary for the light to be 
burning. Our Saviour, addressing those who were 
accustomed to the highly poetic imagery of the 
east, spoke of the professor of piety under the 
figure of a lamp ; and in the well-known and beau- 
tiful parable of the wise and foolish virgins, showed 
the danger of a careless and unwatchful profession 
of religion, commanding his followers to have their 
lights always burning. 

In all ages, the lamp beaming from the chamber 
window on the dimness and gloom of the outward 
w^orld, has awakened pleasurable and poetic associ- 
ations in the mind of the traveller ; and whether 
w^e are attracted by the small light of a cottage 
candle, seen from afar, or the still fainter lustre of 



THE VIGILANT WOMAN. 113 

an eastern lamp, yet our minds form some picture 
of the home within. The writer of the book of 
Proverbs, whose eye might rest on such a lamp, 
would imagine a home of industrious application. 
To him it would speak of care and vigilance ; of the 
mistress and maidens gathered round it at their 
work ; of children striving to lend a helping hand ; 
and of a domestic scene of cheerful employment. 
To all of us such a lamp might seem like the hope 
which burns in the breast of one who loves and 
fears God. Now, perhaps, it burns feebly ; some 
passing object dims its brightness, and suggests the 
idea of the Avorldly anxiety, or the sinful infirmity, 
which shadows that hope in the human bosom. 
Again, it rises into a bright and steady flame, 
cheering and gladdening all around it ; and so the 
Christian's hope, soaring above these passing 
shadows, burns with its holy and life-giving lustre, 
shining brighter and brighter, till that perfect day 
of pure and unshadowed light. Perhaps it was 
after wandering in some lonely spot in the dimness 
of night, that David came upon some household 
lamp, and exclaimed, as it guided him onwards, 
^' Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light 



114 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

unto my path ;" and while he blessed God for his 
holy word, added, " Thou shalt guide me with thy 
counsel, and afterwards receive me to glory." Our 
blessed Saviour said to his disciples, ''Ye are the 
light of the world,'' and bade them, and us, for 
whom also his blessed words were spoken and after- 
wards written, so to let our light shine before men, 
that they, seeing our good works, might glorify our 
Father which is in heaven. 

The dearest boon from Heaven above 

Is bliss which brightly hallows home ; 
'T is sunlight to the world of love, 

And life's pure wine, without its foam. 
There is a sympathy of heart. 

Which consecrates the social shrine, 
Robs grief of gloom, and doth impart 

A joy to gladness all divine. 

Let others seek in wealth or fame 

A splendid path whereon to tread ; 
I 'd rather wear a lowlier name, 

With love's enchantments round it shed. 
Fame 's but a light to gild the grave, 

And wealth can never calm the breast ; 
But Love, a halcyon on life 's wave. 

Hath power to soothe its strifes to rest. 



THE INDUSTKIOUS WOMAN. 



117 



SECTION X. 



SHE LAYETH HER HANDS TO THE SPINDLE, AND HER HANDS HOLD 
THE DISTAFF. 

AD not the sacred writer further 
' enlarged upon the character of this 
woman, had this single praise been 
uttered of her, it would, to those 
_ for whom it was immediately intend- 
ed, be of itself a high commendation. 
J The Rabbins record an old saying of the 
Hebrews, that there is no wisdom in a 
woman but in the distaff ; implying, as 
|do the words of the text, that a woman's 
great praise is her industry. The Greeks 
and Romans would have accorded fully with the 
implied sentiment. When a Roman lady became a 
bride, she received many a hint, from the marriage 
ceremony, that she was about to enter on active 
domestic employment ; and again and again the 
word thalassio resounded on her ear. This word. 




118 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

which signified the vessel in which were kept the 
materials for spinning, and the work already spun, 
reminded her, not only of the spindle and the 
distaff, to w^hich it might directly refer, but was 
also significant of the various household occupations 
in which the women of ancient days felt it their 
duty and their honor to excel. 

* ' In those old times, 
There was far less of gadding, and far more 
Of home-born, heart-felt comfort, rooted strong 
In industry, and bearing such rare fruit 
As wealth might never purchase." 

It was not until the more degenerate days of 
Eome, when luxury had supplanted the habits of 
the older state of society, that spinning and weaving 
were left to the slave. In earlier times, the bride 
went to her noAV home amid the throng of rejoicing 
maidens ; and the young attendants carried in their 
hands the distaff and the spindle, with the gay 
colored wools hanging about them ; — to all it spoke 
the same lesson,— the lesson so often inculcated by 
the Roman writers, — that a woman should resemble 



THE INDUSTRIOUS WOMAN. 119 

the bee for industry, and imitate Minerva, whose 
wisdom was so truly womanly in its direction, that 
she was said to be the first who ever wrought a 
w^eb. 

It was the pride of Augustus Csesar, that his 
imperial robes, his fringed tunic, and costly girdle, 
were wrought in his household, by the hands of his 
wife, his sister, his daughter, and his grand- 
daughters. So, too, Alexander the Great, when 
advising the mother of Darius to teach her nieces 
to imitate the Glrecian ladies in spinning wool, 
showed her the garments which he wore, and told 
her they were made by his sisters. The virtuous 
Lucretia worked with her maidens at the spinning- 
wheel ; and Tanaquil, the wife of Tarquin, wrought 
woollen robes so w^ell, that long after her death, her 
spinning implements, together with a robe of her 
manufacture, were hung up in the Temple of 
Fortune ; a constant monument of her taste and 
skill, and an intimation to Eoman maids and 
matrons that they, too, should lay their hands to 
the spindle, and their hands should hold the distaff. 

The Jewish Scriptures so frequently refer to the 



120 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

industry of women in occupations of this kind, that 
one can easily imagine the matron 

'* At her wheel, 
Spinning amain, as if to overtake 
The never-halting time ; or, in her turn, 
Teaching some novice of the sisterhood 
Her skill in this or other household work." 

The ancient spindle or spinning-wheel was held 
by the right hand, and turned round, while the 
distaff or staff around which the wool was rolled 
was held in the bend of the left arm, and the thread 
drawn over the fingers of the left hand, so that 
both hands were employed. 

The spindle and the distaff are the most ancient 
form of the spinning apparatus, and, in an improved 
condition, were long used even in our own country ; 
hence the word spinster ; and the English maiden 
or mother might often be seen sitting at her wheel 

** In summer, ere the mower was abroad 
Among the dewy grass — in early spring, 
Ere the last star had vanished." 

But time has brought its wondrous improvements 
and great changes, and the well-constructed spin- 



THE INDUSTRIOUS WOMAN. 121 

ning machinery of modern days lias banished from 
our cottage-doors the busy hum of the wheel. The 
cottager who once turned it gayly round has now 
to change her mode of industry, and has only to 
make up with her needle, into garments, the fabric 
which she would once have manufactured for herself. 
But, besides the actual spinning or weaving of 
the wool and flax, the preparation of these sub- 
stances gave much employment to the Jewish 
household. The flax required drying and preparing 
for use. The wool, after being combed and picked 
and carded, was put up in round balls, ready for 
the spindle. It was sometimes left for use with the 
natural moisture which fresh cut wool always yields, 
and which reminds us of the wool of Gideon's fleeces, 
out of which, in the Syrian climate, he could wring 
dew, ''even a bowl full of water." Wool in this 
state was called plump-wool ; but when the manu- 
facturers were about to make some of those brilliant 
garments, whose tints no modern skill can furnish, 
the wool had to be subjected to the various processes 
of dyeing. In this case it was usual to anoint the 
wool with wine, or w^ith some unctuous substance, 
preparatory to plunging it into the dye. 



122 



THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 



SECTION XI. 

SHE STEETCHETn OUT HER HAND TO THE POOR ; YEA, SHE REACHETH 
FORTH HER HANDS TO THE NEEDY. 

VERY reader of the Holy Scriptures 
^ must see how careful the great Jeho- 
vah has been, both under the old 
and new dispensation, to recommend 
Ko the care of the rich the wants of 
poorer brethren. The law of Moses 
abounded in humane institutions respect- 
g the poor, and these would be familiar 
e Jewish woman. Though her Bible 
Lot the Gospels, with their illustrations 
1 living and dying love of the Redeemer ; 
though the sacred volume of the ancient Hebrew 
told not of the self-denying zeal of St. Paul, or 
other holy men of old, who lived and labored and 
suffered for others ; though it had not the gentle 
and affectionate tenderness of the lovely and beloved 
disciple, — yet its law made provision for kindness 
and humanity ; and the poor and the destitute, the 
fatherless and the widow, were ever described as 




THE HUMANE WOMAN. 125 

the peculiar objects of God's love and compassion, 
and were recommended to the care of those to whom 
God had given wealth. " Blessed is he that con- 
sidereth the poor : the Lord will deliver him in time 
of trouble," had been sung by the Psalmist; and 
still the words resounded in the tabernacle of the 
righteous, and still were met by answering feelings 
in the hearts of those who loved and feared Israel's 
God. It was in the exact spirit of the divine law 
that this woman acted. Moses had said, ''The 
poor shall never cease out of the land ; therefore I 
command thee, saying. Thou shalt open thine hand 
wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, 
in thy land." 

There is something very expressive in the figure 
of the text : " She stretcheth out her hand to the 
poor ; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the 
needy." It would seem to imply an attention to 
the wants of the poor, not forced upon her by 
immediate neighborhood. She waited not for the 
poor man to come to her door, but she went out to 
look for him. She did not deal out her bounty 
grudgingly, and by slow degrees, but gave with 
bounteous hands, and anticipated the duty taught 



126 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

afterwards : ^'Freely ye have received, freely give." 
She might have been seen, like Dorcas, making 
clothing for the poor, and distributing it with cheer- 
ful and willing kindness. She knew well that God 
loveth a cheerful giver. She was described as a 
woman " who feared the Lord," and his commands 
were her standard of duty. She would feel that the 
destitute ought to have a portion in all riches, so 
that God's blessing might rest on the wealth which 
she had gained. Such a woman could appreciate 
the kind and considerate command of her holy law, 
so suited to the agricultural habits of the people of 
a rich and fertile land : '' When thou cuttest down 
thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in 
the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it ; it 
shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for 
the widow ; that the Lord thy God may bless thee 
in all the works of thine hands. When thou beatest 
thine olive-tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs 
again; it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, 
and for the widow. When thou gatherest the grapes 
of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterwards ; 
it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and 
for the widow." And, w^hether it were the glean- 



THE HUMANE WOMAN. 127 

ings of her harvest field, or the wool of her flock, it 
was given with gladness. The poor who were near 
her rejoiced in her bounty, and the poor afar off 
were not forgotten. Even so may w^e see the rip- 
plings of the waters around the pebble which is cast 
into the stream ; and the ridges of water are fuller 
and larger nearest to the stone, and though they 
lessen as they recede, yet they form widening circles 
still, until they enclose the whole lake ; just so were 
the deeds of love wTOught by this w^oman, fullest in 
the charities of home, yet widening ever, until they 
encompassed the whole world in their embrace. 

Dr. Adam Clarke considers the expression 
"needy'' as applying especially to the afflicted 
poor. The poor whom sickness prevented from 
labor ; the aged man, whose limbs refused to bear 
the weight of toil ; the little child, too young to 
help himself ; or the houseless stranger, who came 
to the gate of the Israelitish city to ask for succor ; 
the latter had been especially commended to the 
pity of the ancient Hebrew: "Love ye therefore the 
stranger,'' said the Lord to his chosen people ; "for 
yo were strangers in the land of Egypt." And he 
whom adverse circumstances had brought low was 
9 



128 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

cared for in the humane precepts of the law. '^ If 
thy brother he waxen poor, and fallen in decay with 
thee, then thou shalt relieve him ; yea, though he 
be a stranger or a sojourner ; that he may live with 
thee.' 

If we find it commanded as a duty and named as 
a praise, of the Hebrew woman, that she reached 
forth her hands to the poor and needy, how much 
more should this kindness to the indigent be expected 
of women reared in a country in which the gentle 
and loving spirit of the Gospel is fully known ! The 
ancient duty of remembering the poor, so far from 
being abrogated by the New Testament, is enforced 
by more numerous and direct commands, and by the 
living example of our blessed Saviour, who " went 
about doing good." 

One thing which must ever endear to the Chris- 
tian his poorer brethren is the remembrance that 
Jesus Christ himself was the member of a poor 
family. The disciple of the Lord who had not 
where to lay his head, and who was supplied by the 
kind women who ministered to him, should feel a 
sincere pity and regard for the poor ; for verily the 
Lord of glory took not upon him the nature of an 



THE HUMANE WOMAN. 129 

angel ; he came not with wealth or powder, but 
made himself of no reputation, and for more than 
thirty years endured poverty and privation, that we 
might have everlasting happiness, — that to the poor 
the Gospel might be preached, and that they might 
be made " rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom." 
In all the solemn and affectionate appeals made in 
God's holy word in behalf of the poor, there is not 
one which com.es home more fully than this to the 
heart of God's children : '' For ye know the grace 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, 
yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through 
his poverty m^ight be rich." 0, if we could ever 
remember how short our time is for doing good, — 
that our sun may go down suddenly, while it is yet 
day ; that if even the threescore years and ten of 
this mortal life should be allotted to us, it will be too 
short for half our projects, — surely we should hasten 
to-day to labor in God's vineyard ; making sacrifices 
of time, and talents, and property, for the poor and 
needy of God's heritage, and laboring diligently 
ere the night cometh, when no man can work. 

Nor must it be forgotten that on a Christian 
devolves the duty, not only of doing good to the 



130 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

body, but to the soul. Every one who has himself 
received the gift of God's spirit, — whose sins are 
pardoned through the Eedeemer's grace, — is bound 
to study and promote the eternal welfare of others. 
Woe be to us, if our poorer brethren shall say, at 
the day of judgment, '' No man cared for my soul." 
If we have the tongue of the learned, and can give 
good instruction, yet forbear to give it ; if we can 
help the ignorant with a word of counsel ; if we 
can bestow upon him the word of life, or induce 
him to join the assembly of God's earthly worship- 
pers on the Sabbath day ; if we can set before him 
a holy example ; if we can send the missionary to 
the crowded alleys of our cities, or help him to 
traverse the wide waters to the dim and dark 
recesses of ignorance or cruelty, — and yet sloth, or 
carelessness, or self-indulgence, or parsimony, lead 
us to inertness, — then we are robbing those whom 
God has given into our care, and God will require 
their souls at our hands. But if we stretch out our 
hands to the needy, then may we hope for God's 
promised blessing, and our own spiritual w^ants will 
be supplied while we are aiding others. 

There is also a peculiar feature in love to the 



THE HUMANE WOMAN. 131 

poor, which is impressed on the doctrines of the 
New Testament with greater distinctness than on 
those of the Old. Besides the general commands to 
love our poorer neighbor, we are especially ^'to do 
good to them who are of the household of faith." 
So much is this love to the disciples of Christ incul- 
cated in the writings of the evangelists and apostles, 
that we are told we ought to "lay down our lives 
for the brethren." It is even made a test of our 
love to God. "Whoso hath this world's good," 
saith St. John, "and seeth his brother have need, 
and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, 
how dwelleth the love of God in him ? " The con- 
tributions for the poor saints were not forgotten by 
the apostle Paul and the early Christians; and 
while it is the duty of Christians to do good to the 
bodies and to the souls of all, to stretch out the 
willing hand to the poor and needy, the poor of 
God's adopted family should be the especial objects 
of their love and care. 

From Christ, the Lord, shall they obtain 
Like sympathy and love again. 

9# 



132 



THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 



SECTION XII. 



SHE IS NOT AFRAID OF THE SNOW FOR IIER HOUSEHOLD ; FOR ALL 
HER HOUSEHOLD ARE CLOTHED WITH SCARLET. 

lO accustomed are we to hear of the 
J serene skies and genial warmth of 
Hhe chmate of Palestine, that we are, 
,in our thoughts, apt to invest that 
^interesting land with a perpetual sun- 
^ shine. The flowery heights of the 
, fragrant Carmel ; the magnificent and 
' enduring vegetation of Lebanon ; the 
smiling plains of the still lovely and 
' verdant Sharon ; the grapes of Eshcol, — 
"^^J^ these are the features of the landscape most 
familiar to our mind. Although the cold of winter 
is not so severe as in some other parts of Syria, 
still it is scarcely less than that experienced in our 
own country. The autumnal shower is the early 
rain, for which the ''husbandman long waited," 
that he might sow his seed ; and in December, 
which is the first winter month, the rain falls in 
torrents, and the snow covers the plains occasion- 




THE THOUGHTFUL WOMAN. 135 

ally, and lies on the elevated mountains lung after 
spring has made considerable advance ; while hoar- 
frost scatters its diamonds, or a mist, like that of 
our northern climates, obscures the face of nature. 
Owing to the great inequalities of surface in the 
Holy Land, there are some sheltered and favored 
spots which are free from the cold of winter. Here 
the season is soft and mild, snow is seldom seen on 
the plains, and the orange-tree and the citron and 
the goodly palm contrast with the white summits 
and glittering icicles of Lebanon. On the moun- 
tains the snow is peculiarly deep from December, 
and scarcely decreases before the month of July. 
Dr. E. D. Clarke, speaking of one of the hills 
which forms a part of the majestic Lebanon, says : 
''The snow entirely covers the upper part of it; 
not lying in patches, as I have seen it, during 
summer, upon the tops of very elevated mountains, — . 
for instance, that of Nevis in Scotland ; but invest- 
ing all the higher part with that perfect white and 
smooth velvet-like appearance which snow only 
exhibits when it is very deep ; a striking spectacle 
in such a climate, where the beholder, seeking pro- 



136 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

tection from a burning sun, almost considers the 
firmament to be on fire." 

We have various other instances in Scripture, 
besides that quoted at the head of the chapter, of 
the cold and snow of Palestine. The psalmist of 
Israel sung of the fleeces which the Creator " giveth 
like wool," and prayed that he might be purified, 
and made " whiter than snow." We infer the cold 
from the statement of the prophet Jeremiah, when 
he described Jehoiakim, king of Judah, as sitting 
with his nobles around the hearth, and daringly 
cutting with his penknife, and casting into the fire, 
the scroll which contained the denunciations of the 
Almighty. So again, in that sad hour, when the 
affectionate but frail apostle denied the Master 
whom he loved, we read that they had kindled a 
fire in the midst of the hall, and that Peter and 
others sat down together by it, '' for it was cold." 

The writer of the " Pictorial Palestine," describ- 
ing the severe weather of January, says: " Major 
Skinner, who states that he traversed this country 
in a season unusually severe, speaks much of snow 
and cold. He mentions a village under Mount 
Carmel, in which many houses had been destroyed 



THE THOUGHTFUL WOMAN. 137 

by the great quantities of snow which had fallen. 
He spent a night in that village, and on the morn- 
ing of the twenty-eighth found the court-yard full 
of snow, which had fallen during the night. Snow 
was then resting on the ridge of Mount Carmel. 
Penetrating to the interior of the country, the 
same traveller reached Nazareth on the thirtieth. 
The heights around the town, and many of the 
houses, were covered with snow, large heaps of 
which were piled up in the court-yard of the con- 
vent. Many of the smaller houses had been 
destroyed by it ; and the next day he found that 
the deep snow in the streets rendered it impossible 
to quit the city, and difficult to move about in it. 
A thaw had, however, commenced. The snow falls 
thick, and lies long on the mountains and high and 
intervening plains and valleys of Jebel Haouran, 
which may be said to bound eastward the country 
beyond Jordan. Madox found it so at the end of 
January. The same traveller, on the thirteenth, 
found Damascus covered with snow, as well as the 
mountains and plains round it." 

Most commentators think that the Hebrew word 
rendered " scarlet" would be more correctly trans- 



138 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

lated by the marginal reading, '' double garments/' 
It is thus rendered by Boothroyd in his version of 
Scripture, and the Septuagint and Arabic versions 
give it thus. The twice dyeing, which formed part 
of the process used in obtaining the brilliant scarlet 
of the East, caused this color to be expressed in the 
original language by the verb to redouble, and 
thus leaves the rendering in some measure doubt- 
ful. Dr. Adam Clarke states, in his commentary, 
that his old manuscript Bible renders this part of 
the passage " ben clothed with double ;" and adds 
that Coverdale, with equal propriety, translates it, 
^'Forallhir household folkes are duble clothed." 
Whether we regard this double clothing as relating 
to an additional number of garments, put on during 
the winter season, — or Avhether we consider it as 
relating to a double stock of clothes, suitable for 
the winter, as well as the summer, — it still marks 
the care of her household shown by the mistress 
and the mother. 

There are, however, some commentators who 
consider scarlet as the right rendering of the word 
from the original. Dr. Gill remarks, that if the 
word here used had been designed to be '' double," 



THE THOUGHTFUL WOMAN. 139 

it would have been in the dual number ; and as this 
is not the case, he considers that in this, and simi- 
lar instances, it is used for the scarlet color. He 
adds that both the Targum and Aben Ezra thus 
interpret it. 

Supposing the word scarlet to be the correct 
translation in this passage, it would refer to the 
clothing provided by the Jewish matron for her 
husband and children only, and would not include 
the dress of her servants. Scarlet was a color 
much esteemed in the East, and the Jewish nobles 
and courtiers were accustomed, on state occasions 
and festivals, to wear robes of this brilUant dye. 
In that exquisitely touching lament, uttered by 
David over the fallen king, he exclaims, '' Ye 
daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed 
you in scarlet, with other delights, — who put on 
ornaments of gold upon your apparel." So, too, 
Belshazzar was decked in the robe of scarlet ; 
and when the prophet meant to contrast the wealth 
and luxury of Israel with its deepest degradation, 
he said, ^'They that were brought up in scarlet 
embrace dunghills." And now, in the land endeared 
to us by holiest associations, the bright coloring of 



140 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

the scarlet robe still attracts the eye of the traveller, 
in the winter season ; and Lamartine speaks of the 
picturesque scarlet mantles of the Druses of Leba- 
non, and of the brilliant vests of scarlet velvet 
sometimes adopted by the Arab women. 

If we keep to the latter rendering of the word, 
the passage would leave us simply to infer, that as 
the ordinary clothing of the family was that of the 
wealthier classes, there would not fail to be a pro- 
vision of warm raiment prepared for the inclement 
season. 

The ancient scarlet appears to have been some- 
times a vegetable dye, obtained from the berries of 
a tree common in Canaan, and at others to have 
been procured from an insect resembling the 
American cochineal, though of a less brilliant tint. 
This insect, which was found chiefly on the leaves 
of the evergreen oak {ilex aculeata), was called by 
the Greeks and Romans coccus, but by the Arabs 
kermeSj and from this latter word we derive our 
crimson and carmine. This scarlet dye is supposed 
to have been common in Egypt before the time of 
Moses, and to have been brought by the Israelites 
from that land. It is considered by most writers 



THE THOUGHTFUL WOMAN. 141 

to be the scarlet named among the colors of the 
hangings of the tabernacle, by the cunning (or 
skilful) workman and embroiderer. 

In the national character of the Hebrews, we 
can, through all ages, perceive the virtue of fore- 
thought, a characteristic which appears the more 
striking if we contrast it with the carelessness of 
the future exhibited by our warm-hearted neighbors, 
the Irish, or with the love of mere present gratifi- 
cation which marks the people of some continental 
nations. In the long series of cruel and oppressive 
acts, to which, in comparatively modern times, the 
ancient people of Grod have been subjected, this 
forethought has, in many instances, degenerated 
into a spirit of covetousness ; and the love of hoard- 
ing has been censured in the Jew by the very men 
whose rapacious tyranny turned this characteristic 
virtue into a vice. But the bright example of this 
pious woman, as portrayed by the Hebrew writer, 
under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit of 
God, is not that of a mean selfishness, not 

" That strict parsimony 
Which sternly hoarded all that could be spared 
From each day's need, out of each day's least gain :" 

10 



142 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

Hers was an enlarged and bounteous providence ; 
one which, while it sought to guard against the ills, 
and provided for the comforts, of the coming days, 
while it gathered for her family enough and to 
spare, yet could have an open hand for the poor and 
needy. She acted on the principle of the charge 
given by the wise man to the sluggard, when he 
bade him consider the ways of the ant, ^' which 
provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth 
her food in the harvest." She could give liberally 
to those who had nothing, while she avoided the 
censure afterwards pronounced by the apostle, '' If 
any provide not for his own, and specially for those 
of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is 
worse than an infidel.'' We have sometimes need 
to be reminded that prodigality is not generosity ; 
that there is a prudent care for ourselves and others, 
which may consist in economizing present provision, 
so as to afford future comfort ; and which is, as in 
the beautiful illustration of womanly virtue now 
before us, the result of a generous and enlarged 
thoughtfulness, which forgets not to consider the 
poor, nor neglects the enjoyment of present good. 
Prudence is that necessary part of wisdom, which, 



THE THOUGHTFUL WOMAN. 143 

while it adapts its means to the end, refers chiefly 
to the prevention of ill. In looking to the future, 
we must see that evil of one kind or other waits 
us, if not met by a careful prudence. Even the 
warm and pleasant days of Palestine, its myrtles 
and roses, its many-tinted hues of sky, — all had 
to yield to the winter's snows, and coldness, and 
barrenness ; and thus it is with our life itself. 
''The prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth 
himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished ; " 
and the wretched fate of the imprudent man, whose 
want of consideration for the future leads him to 
poverty and ruin, is too often before us to be for- 
gotten. But there is a worse evil to be prepared 
for than mere earthly poverty, and cold, and want, 
and suffering. Death is in itself an OAdl. Even 
the apostle could say, when speaking of the disunion 
of soul and body, ''Not for that we would be 
unclothed." And if the Christian naturally shrinks 
from the prospect of death, though his life has been 
a preparation for heaven, and he knows that God 
will be with him in dying, 0, how fearful must it 
be to him who in life never looked forward to his 
dying hour ! The infidel is an imprudent man, for 



144 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

he hideth himself not from coming evil, but boldly 
defies the wintry hour of life. The worldly man is 
imprudent, for he sends forward no careful thought 
into the long future ; and though even our ages are 
but as a few waves from the great sea of Eternity, 
which ebb back again into that boundless ocean, 
yet he lives as if all our interests belonged to Time. 
The profligate man, who despises God, and loses in 
the sense of present gratification all consciousness 
of the evil which lies beyond, laments bitterly, on 
his dying bed, his neglect of the duty of fore- 
thought. 

Forethought, however, must be distinguished 
from foreboding ; that cheerful calculation on future 
events, and providing against the vicissitudes of 
life, which are exemplified in the text, are wholly 
different from the dread of coming evil, the anxiety 
about sorrows which may never happen, which 
arises from a mistrust of the providence of God. 
Some people build castles in the air ; others seem 
intent on building dungeons. The over anxious 
mind is distrustful, and makes its owner miserable, 
when he ought calmly and happily to wait on God, 



THE THOUGHTFUL WOMAN. 145 

and rely on his promises. To such might be applied 
the words of the poet : 

** Does each day upon its wmg 
Its allotted burden bring ? 
Load it not beside with sorrow 
Which belongeth to the morrow. 
Strength is promised — strength is given 
When the heart by God is riven : 
But, foredate the day of woe, 
And alone thou bear'st the blow.'' 

10* 



146 



THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 



SECTION XIII. 



SHE MAKETH HERSELF COVERINGS OF TAPESTRY; HER CLOTHING 
IS SILK AND PURPLE. 

> ERSONS of wealth, in eastern coun- 
itries, have ever been accustomed to 
.dress in magnificent clothing, and to 
I furnish their dwellings in a sumptu- 
ous and tasteful manner. There is, 
indeed, but little furniture in an ori- 
ental house. Couches and sofas, and 
hangings at the doors, are almost the 
^ only objects on which skill can be exercised, 
or which will admit the display of wealth in 
the possessor. In such a condition of soci- 
ety, it was certainly the duty of the wife of a Jew- 
ish magistrate, both to dress herself, and to array 
her house, in a style becoming the place and time. 
Had she done otherwise, she would have neglected 
the duties of her station, exposed her husband to 
censure, and herself have borne the reputation of a 
careless housewife. While to be clothed in silk 
and purple would be no praise of the modern female, 











iJi (A j-l .^ J j-j jtI [E if^ ^ i iL iF' 

§ ® V 1 n I] ?o ^ § o) F T ^\ p ?: § T 

P IJ T^ J^ L E . 



^ Yj 



THE TASTEFUL WOMAN. 149 

in her it was significant of that sense of propriety 
which, in all ages, especially becomes the feminine 
character. The same duty of making home com- 
fortable, of providing suitable furniture and clothing 
for the family, and of dressing according to her 
station, is practised by the excellent woman of 
modern times ; and she who is not attired with a 
woman's neatness, and is indifferent even to the 
appearance of her house and family, has no claim 
to the reputation of a good wife, nor can she expect 
that her children will rise up and call her blessed. 

The coverings of tapestry named in this passage 
refer probably to those embroidered quilted cover- 
lets, used in all parts of Asia, for the divan or sofa. 
They might, however, signify carpets for her guests 
to sit upon ; or those richly- worked curtains often 
hung at the oriental doorway, to keep the warm 
rays of the sun from entering the apartment ; and 
which, separating the room from the beautiful 
garden into which it opens, yet admit the soft 
wind, laden with odors from shrubs and flowers. 
It seems most likely that these coverings of tapestry 
were worked with the needle, for although, in very 
early days, the Greeks and Romans used the loom 



150 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

in embroidering their tapestries, yet the practice of 
working by the needle was not only earlier, but was 
continued long after the introduction of the loom, 
and, indeed, to comparatively modern times. The 
Hebrews derived their skill in this art from the 
Egyptians, and among this people either the loom 
or the hand was employed in this kind of manufac- 
ture. Until within the last few centuries, much 
female skill and ingenuity have been bestowed on 
the working of tapestry, of which the celebrated 
Bayeux tapestry is a well known instance. This 
piece of needle-work, wrought either by the hand 
of Matilda, the wife of the Norman Conqueror, or 
worked by her maidens, under her direction, is a 
standing monument of feminine perseverance. It 
is twenty inches wide, and two hundred and four- 
teen long. It is worked in woollen threads, and 
resembles a large sampler ; portraying, in figures 
somewhat uncouth, the various events connected 
with the Norman conquest. 

The curtains of the Jewish tabernacle, described 
in the book of Exodus, '' made of fine twined linen, 
and blue, and purple, and scarlet,'' are generally 
supposed to have been made of needle-work, in 



THE TASTEFUL WOMAN. 151 

which the Jewish women are known to have 
excelled. Some of these curtains had precious 
stones and wires of gold worked in among the 
threads, as we see in the " clothes of service," and 
''holy garments/' described by Moses. ''And 
they did beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it 
into wires, to work it in the blue, and in the purple, 
and in the scarlet, and in the fine linen, with 
cunning work.'' That pictures describing various 
scenes of life or landscape were traced by female 
hands on their tapestries, there can be little doubt. 
Archbishop Cranmer translates the first and second 
verses of Exodus xxvi. : "Thou shalt make cur- 
taynes of whyte twyned silke, yelowe silke, purple 
and scarlet. And in them thou shalt make pyctures 
of broidered work." The celebrated Babylonian 
tapestries were wrought with the needle, and rep- 
resented either the mysteries of religion or some 
historical incidents ; and the Greek and Eoman 
ladies wrought embroideries which told to the eye 
a tale of hunting or war, of love or sorrow, and 
even in those early days wove tapestry little inferior 
to that which graces the halls of some of our old 
English castles and mansions. 



152 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

The taste for brilliant coloring, so marked among 
the people of the East, seems a natural consequence 
of the bright hue of nature in the lands in which 
they reside ; and the sober tints of our colder 
climate may have had their effect in moderating 
that taste in our own land. In countries in which 
the flowers are so brilliant that the flame itself seems 
hardly to exceed their brightness ; where insects 
of ruby color or of brightest emerald unfold their 
wings ; and birds varying in tint from every shade 
of purple to faintest azure fly among the trees, — 
there is a depth and richness of coloring to which 
our eye is unaccustomed. The amethyst sky at 
sunset ; the very mountain peaks, tinged as they 
are, in some eastern lands, with hues of rose, and 
violet, and orange, — 

" For God has set his rainbows on them, while the cloud 
Lies at their feet : " — 

These, when seen constantly, tend to impart to the 
taste a love for the bright and gorgeous tints which 
God has lent to color this earthly home. Blue, in 
every variety, was a favorite color with the ancient 
Hebrews. We find it mentioned continually in the 



THE TASTEFUL WOMAN. 153 

decoration of the Tabernacle, and the dress of the 
priest ; and it is generally thought to have been 
procured from indigo, which appears from, the 
mummy cloths to have been used by the Egyptians, 
and was therefore doubtless known to the Jews. It 
is rather remarkable that in modern times this color 
is not esteemed in Palestine, nor admired as it once 
was, but has become connected with the idea of 
meanness, and worn only by the poorest of the 
people. But the purple was the color which appears 
to have had preeminence in ancient times, and 
which was so generally appropriated to kings and 
important personages, that even unto modern days 
the purple robe is emblematic of royalty. At a 
period early as that when Israel was ruled by 
judges, we find mention of this color, as worn by 
royal persons ; and on that eventful day, 

" When grove was felled, and altar was cast down, 
And Gideon blew the trumpet, soul-inflamed, 
And strong in hatred of idolatry," — 

the kings of Midian appeared '^ clothed in purple 
raiment.'' It was, too, with the purple robe that 
Mordecai was decked, when he was promoted to 
honor by the Persian king ; and to be clothed in 



154 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

purple and fine linen was the distinction of the rich 
man in the parable of the New Testament. 

The purple mentioned in the text is believed by 
most writers to be the highly-valued Tyrian dye. 
This color was known in very ancient times, and 
prized, not only by the Hebrews, but by the Greeks 
and Romans. It was procured from two species of 
fish found on the shores of the Mediterranean and 
Atlantic seas ; the one (buccinum) adhered to the 
rocks ; the other (purpura) floated in the sea, and 
it was this species which afforded the dye most in 
request, and which is called in the Apocrypha the 
purple of the sea. From various varieties of these 
two species of shell-fish several tints of purple were 
obtained. The one was of a paler hue, and more 
resembling our scarlet ; another was a deep violet 
tint, a color much valued by the Roman ladies in 
the time of Augustus; but the hue most admired 
was that deep purplish crimson which resembles 
clotted blood. This is said by Mr. Harmer to be 
the most sublime of all earthly colors, " having the 
gaudiness of red, of which it retains a shade, soft- 
ened by the gravity of blue.'' 

We can form some idea of the expensive nature 
of Tyrian purples, when we consider how large a 



THE TASTEFUL WOMAN. 155 

number of shell-fish must be collected to furnish 
even a small quantity of the dye. These fish were 
sometimes two feet in length, but the only portion 
which yielded the color was a small white vein in 
the neck ; so that a number of fishermen must have 
been employed for many days, before they could 
obtain enough to color even a single garment. The 
art of dyeing the Tyrian purple is now lost ; but it 
is probable that its place is well supplied by the 
rich hues of vegetable dyes employed in modern 
times. 

The Rev. A. Bonar and Robert McCheyne, who 
lately visited the Holy Land, on a mission of inquiry 
respecting the Jews, remark of the shore near the 
bay of Acre: ''We saw some of our neighbors 
seeking for specimens of the shell-fish from which, 
in ancient times, used to be extracted the famous 
purple dye. We did not find any specimens, but 
were told it is still to be found there. It used to 
be found in all parts of the bay, and there were two 
kinds of it. One of these yielded a dark blue color, 
the other a brighter tint, like scarlet; and by 
mingling these two juices, the true purple color 
was obtained.'' ''It was thus," adds the writer, 
11 



156 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

^'that Asher, whose rich and beautiful plain sup- 
plied viands fit for the table of kings, yielded also 
the dye of their royal robes, conveyed to many a 
distant coast by the merchants of Tyre and Sidon ; 
and thus we see the full meaning of Jacob's bless- 
ing on Asher, ' He shall yield royal dainties.' " 

The great use of the purple color among the 
wealthy classes of the Hebrews gave employment 
to many of the Tyrian merchants. Thus we find 
that when Ezekiel addressed Tyrus, in the language 
of prophecy, he referred to it: ''Syria was thy 
merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares 
of thy making ; they occupied in thy fairs with 
emeralds, purple and broidered work." In later 
ages, we read of a very interesting character, 
Lydia, who was '^ a seller of purple " at Thyatira, 
whose ''heart the Lord opened, that she attended 
unto the things which were spoken of Paul," and 
whose warm and earnest love to the apostle and his 
companions urged her to constrain them to dwell in 
her house ; and this rich color, in which the matron 
of the text is said to be clothed, was probably one 
of those species of merchandise which she is said, 
"like the merchants' ships, to have brought from 
afar." 




[ 'f i PTl '1 ^ L !s 3 ^"^ >^^ ^ 




THE CREDITABLE WOMAN. 



159 



SECTION XIV. 



HER HUSBAND IS KNOWN IN THE GATES, WHEN HE SITTETH AMONG 
THE ELDEKS OF THE LAND. 

' EEATLY, indeed, is it to the credit 
^of a woman, that her husband should 
be known and honored for her sake ; 
*that in the places of public resort he 
^should be recognized as the husband 
' of a wife, who so arranged the household 
duties, and took so practical a part in 
the concerns of the family, that he was 
enabled to devote his time to public business. 
His dress, too, ever becoming his station, and 
wrought with industrious skill in his own 
home, would be noticed in an oriental assembly ; 
while an unspotted reputation, gained by a virtuous 
and consistent life, reflected its lustre on all con- 
nected with the Jewish woman. 

And as it was in the days of old, so is it now, 
that whatever position in life we may occupy, we 
cannot stand alone. Whether individual conduct 
bring disgrace or win respect, others must share 




160 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

in it. So, too, we all must influence others ; and 
of all means of moral influence, none is greater 
than that of a good reputation. Without it, indeed, 
all good influence is lost. The Scripture proverb 
says, ''A good name is rather to be chosen than 
precious ointment;" and, for the preservation of 
this good name, a woman's conduct must not only 
be marked by integrity and simplicity, but it must 
be steady and uniform. The very shadow of ill, 
the very appearance of evil, is to be shunned by 
every woman professing godliness ; and in the eye 
of the world she should be blameless, approving 
herself not only unto God, but also unto men. 

When we find it implied that a woman's charac- 
ter brought an honor to her husband, we are quite 
sure that it was marked by consistency. This can 
be the result only of the possession of good princi- 
ples, and of a determination, by the grace of God, 
to make these principles the basis, not only of every 
important duty, but of the minor acts of life. It 
must proceed from a high and enlarged sense of 
responsibility, and was never yet attained by any 
who had not seriously studied her own particular 
duties, and cultivated also the duty of firmness. 



THE CREDITABLE WOMAN. 161 

We all rely fully on a consistent person, and 
instinctively value his opinion. Every one must 
have seen that there are some, who, without attempt- 
ing to gain influence over others, yet possess it to 
so great a degree, that even vice stands abashed in 
their presence : the swearer will fear to utter his 
oath, the drunkard will feel ashamed of his -sin, 
and the frivolous will stay his folly. Even the little 
child recognizes consistency, and feels the force of 
reproof or praise uttered by its possessor. It is 
remarkable, too, that our characters are generally 
read fairly, and well understood, by those around 
us. Weight of character never fails to make its 
due impression. We are judged, not only by the 
expression of our sentiments, — for in these we might 
deceive, — but by the hourly acts which make up 
human life, the impulse which prompts the uncon- 
sidered word, the very look which betrays the 
thought ; the little things, which in their individual 
manifestation seem nothing, yet the amount of 
which makes up our character, and causes it to be 
rightly read. 

The ancient custom of holding meetings for pub- 
lic justice under the gateway of the town, as well 
IP 



162 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

as the reference to the elders, leads us to the 
conclusion that the husband of the Jewish woman 
held some office of public trust. As early as the 
time of Abraham, we find business transactions 
performed in the gate, when the patriarch pur- 
chased the cave of Machpelah, in the audience of 
Heth ; and the silver was weighed in the presence 
of all them that went in at the gate of the city. 
And Boaz bought of Naomi the land of his family, 
in the presence of the witnesses at the gateway, 
and of the elders. The convenience of the gate, 
as being not only a regular place of thoroughfare in 
and out of the city, but a public place of resort, 
rendered it peculiarly suitable for the transfer of 
property, at a time when written documents were 
little known, and the transaction had consequently 
to be attested by several of the inhabitants of the 
neighborhood. Homer states of the Trojans, that 
their elders assembled in the gate to judge of the 
rights between man and man. 

In the law of Moses we find direct reference to 
the practice of holding law-courts in these entrances 
to towns. ^' Judges and officers shalt thou make 
thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth 



THE CREDITABLE WOMAN. 163 

thee, throughout thy tribes ; and they shall judge 
the people with just judgment." And when Job 
looked back on more prosperous days, and com- 
pared with them his state of present sorrow, he 
says : '' When I went out to the gate through the 
city, when I prepared my seat in the street ! the 
young men saw me, and hid themselves ; and the 
aged arose, and stood up ;" while the mournful 
Jeremiah predicted, as one of the signs of desola- 
tion on his native land, that the elders should cease 
from the gate. 

But beside the business of judging the people 
of Israel, and of conveying estates or other prop- 
erty, the gateway was often a market-place ; and 
there were assembled the merchants who trafficked 
in the various goods of the East. Thus we find 
Elisha announcing to the famished people of Sama- 
ria, '' To-morrow shall a measure of fine flour be 
sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a 
shekel, in the gate of Samaria." 

It can easily be imagined that a place of such 
great concourse would become a resort, not only 
for men of business, but for men of leisure ; and the 
oriental gateway held the same place in the town 



164 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

which is now occupied by the coffee-house. There 
neighbors met to talk over the affairs of the city, to 
speak of the past, and to speculate on the future ; 
to dwell on the faults of their fellow-townsmen, or 
to expatiate on their worth. If any man wished to 
meet with his neighbor, he went up to the gateway ; 
if he had public news to communicate, he carried 
it thither. If he wished to attract the notice or 
to win the ear of the governor of the city, he would 
sit, day by day, as Mordecai did, in the king's 
gate. So, too, we find Isaiah speaking of him 
'^ that reproveth in the gate ;" and Jeremiah deliv- 
ered his solemn warnings and commands '' in the 
gate of the children of the people ;" and it was 
when the Psalmist felt that he had become the 
object of the unjust reproaches of his neighbors, 
that he said, " They that sit in the gate speak 
against me." 

It does not appear that the assembly of people 
who thus met in the gateway formed any hindrance 
to the passing of the towns-people in and out of the 
city. In eastern gateways, in the present day, 
there is a slightly raised seat on both sides of the 
arch, and under the pleasant shadow of the wall 



THE CREDITABLE WOMAN. 165 

the man of the East still lounges and chats, and 
receives company. Such accommodation no doubt 
belonged to the Hebrew gate. There are, besides, 
on each side of some gateways, open rooms or cells 
in the walls of the gate, in which a number of peo- 
ple sit during the greater part of the day. 

It was because of the publicity of the Hebrew 
gateway, that the Lord commanded the ancient 
Israelite to write upon it the words of his holy law. 
Texts of the sacred book were ordered to be trans- 
cribed upon the posts of their houses, and upon 
their gates, that all Israel might continually be 
reminded of the Great Jehovah, and of his high and 
holy commands. The laborer, as he went forth to 
his fields and his vines, looked up to the written 
words, and the merchant's busy thoughts of gain 
were sometimes arrested and brought into a differ- 
ent course. Many a pious Israelite regarded them 
with love and reverence, and perhaps, like David, 
thanked God for them, and could exclaim, '^ Thy 
word is very pure ; therefore thy servant loveth 
it;" and often they suggested thoughts of prayer, or 
led the mind of the pious Jew forward to the Great 
Messiah, who should come one day to fulfil all those 



166 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

solemn types and shadows which the law now set 
forth, and who should, under a more glorious dis- 
pensation, himself magnify the law, and make it 
honorable. 

" What I most prize in woman 
Is her affection, not her intellect. 
Compare me with the great men of the earth — 
What am I ? Why, a pigmy among giants ! 
But if thou lovest, — mark me, I say lovest, — 
The greatest of thy sex excels thee not ! 
The world of the affections is thy world — 
Not that of man's ambition. In that stillness 
Which most becomes a woman, calm and holy, 
Thou sittest by the fireside of the heart, 
Feeding its flame. The element of fire 
Is pure. It cannot change or hide its nature, 
But burns as brightly in a gypsy camp 
As in a palace hall." 




o^sLii yKiT© YUE fnEm©^/^^^. 



THE TRAFFICKING WOMAN. 



169 



SECTION XV. 

SHE MAKETH FINE LINEN, AND SELLETH IT ; AND DELIVERETH 
GIRDLES UNTO THE MERCHANT. 




IBLICAL critics have carefully 
/studied the Hebrew word here trans- 
lated '^fine linen." Woollen gar- 
ments seem to have formed the 
L^chief articles of dress among the 
(*=> ancient Jews; but both in Egypt and 
1^ Syria garments were also worn of fine 
' linen and cotton, as well as of a substance 
called hyssus. This latter material seems to 
have been a fabric of fine muslin — one of 
^ those '' webs woven of air," which in India 
are worn at the present day, and which the Hindoo 
ladies wrap around them in numerous folds of 
drapery. It seems probable that persons of wealth 
and distinction in Canaan, as well as the priests and 
Levites, wore garments of fine linen, either white 
or dyed ; made of the linen manufactured either in 
Egypt, or of the somewhat inferior quality made in 



170 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

the Jewish household, such as was wrought by the 
excellent woman in the text. 

The general culture of flax in Palestine, the 
statement that the women spun it for the hangings 
of the tabernacle, and the still more immediate fact 
that this w^oman, when she worked willingly with 
her hands, sought flax as well as wool, leads us to 
infer that in this passage at least the rendering of 
linen rather than silk or cotton is the true one. 
Although, according to the Talmudists, the ancient 
Hebrew wore a woollen garment next his skin by 
A^Ji y^t cleanliness and comfort rendered it neces- 
sary that the nightly dress should be made of linen, 
and this appears to have been the general practice. 
Many of the robes of purple, scarlet, blue, and 
other colors, of which we read, appear to have been 
of a linen fabric. 

But this word is thought by some writers to imply 
a loose inner garment, generally worn in the East 
— a kind of shirt. Kimchi thinks the word signi- 
fies a night-covering, and considers that it ought to 
be translated ''linen sheets." ''The Arabic," 
says Dr. Clarke, " gives a remarkable rendering of 
this verse : ' She maketh towels or table-cloths, and 



THE TRAFFICKING WOMAN. 171 

sells them to the inhabitants of Bozra, — a city of 
Mesopotamia,— and fine linen, and sells them to 
the Canaanites.' '' Kitto concurs with the Eabbi in 
thinking that the word here used describes either 
sheets, or else under garments made of linen. It 
is the same as is rendered sheets in the book of 
Judges, w^here Samson promised thirty sheets and 
thirty changes of raiment, as a reward for guessing 
his riddle. It is not at all probable that in this 
latter case sheets are intended, because, when Sam- 
son slew thirty Philistines near Ashkelon, it is 
hardly to be supposed that they were carrying their 
bed-clothes with them. Besides, they would, like 
all other eastern beds, have had two sheets, and 
therefore thirty would have provided twice the 
number required, while the shirts taken from the 
bodies of the slain would have exactly supplied 
Samson with the means of performing his promise. 

As no pictures or monuments have descended 
from the people of Israel to the modern Jew, we 
have no definite means of ascertaining their mode 
of dress. Scripture allusions form our chief guide, 
but tradition, as well as the costumes figured on the 

monuments of the other ancient nations of the East, 
12 



172 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

and the present mode of dress in Egypt and the 
Holy Land, afford some assistance. It is still cus- 
tomary for the Bedouin to wear a cotton or woollen 
shirt or frock, generally fastened round the waist 
with a girdle. This is often, in summer, the only 
dress of the poor, and is the usual in-door dress even 
of the wealthy class of society. In winter, persons 
of humble condition wear over this garment the 
woollen mantle or ^' hyke," a kind of dress very 
similar to the plaid of the Scottish Highlander. 
The hyke may be described as a large woollen 
blanket, serving as a covering both for day and for 
night ; and was, most likely, the garment referred 
to in that humane provision of the law, where, if 
the Israelite took a pledge of his poorer brother, he 
was enjoined : ''In any case thou shalt deliver him 
the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he 
may sleep in his own raiment, and bless thee ; and 
it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord 
thy God." 

The Talmud enumerates eighteen several gar- 
ments, as forming the dress of the ancient Israel- 
ites ; and it is evident from Scripture, that many 



THE TRAFFICKING AVOMAN. 173 

robes and garments were worn by the rich, though 
the frock and mantle might serve for the poor. 

That fine linen was worn only by persons of dis- 
tinction in Canaan, is very apparent, from the value 
attached to it, and the comparisons it suggested. 
When the beloved apostle John wrote, in the isle 
of Patmos, that solemn revelation of prophecy, so 
much of which yet remains unfulfilled to the church 
and to the world, the fine linen, pure and white, 
presented to his mind an image of the righteousness 
of the redeemed church. " And to her," says he, 
" was granted that she should be arrayed in fine 
linen, clean and white ; for the fine linen is the 
righteousness of saints," — that spotless robe 
wrought by the Saviour, for every child of God, 
redeemed from among men by the blood of the 
Lamb, sanctified by his Spirit, and made meet for 
tuning the golden harp of the celestial city, — that 
robe, of Avhich the Saviour says, ^'I counsel thee 
to buy of me white raiment, that thou mayest be 
clothed;" lest, being unclothed, the sinner should 
find, at the great day of God's judgment, that he 
was " poor, and miserable, and blind, and naked," 
having nothing in which to appear but his own 



174 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

righteousness, which the Scripture has declared to 
be, in the sight of God, but as '' filthy rags." 

In a house in which the manufacture of various 
tissues seems to have been carried on so diligently 
as in that of the excellent woman, linen enough 
would be wrought for traffic. Both this and the 
girdles were probably sold, not only to the mer- 
chants of her own city, but also to the Canaanites, 
or Phoenicians, who traded with them to Egypt and 
other distant lands, which their ships visited. 

The continual reference to the girdle in Scripture 
establishes the fact, that among the ancient Hebrews 
it was considered as necessary an article of attire 
as it is in the present day in oriental countries. Its 
use in girding the loins for exertion has been 
already referred to, but it served also for various 
other purposes. The ancient Jews are supposed to 
have worn two girdles, — the one around the body, 
under their inner garment, the other around their 
outer dress. It was this latter girdle which was 
tightened for exercise. The wealthy Jews, who 
evidently paid much attention to dress, no doubt 
prided themselves upon the taste and manufacture 
of this portion of it. In the present day, the Arabs 



THE TRAFFICKING WOMAN. 175 

wear, as a girdle, an embroidered shawl, or a figured 
muslin, and the girdle is a piece of outward finery 
throughout the East. Sometimes it is beautifully 
wrought with colored wools or silks, shells, beads, 
etc. Among the poorer classes, leathern girdles 
are still worn, and probably differ little from that 
with which John the Baptist fastened his camel's- 
hair garments. Leathern girdles are also worn by 
the richer Arab, w^hen he prepares his dress for a 
journey. 

The girdle most commonly worn by the ancient 
Hebrews Avas probably made of woollen fabric, 
skilfully wrought by woman's hand with embroi- 
dered patterns. It folded several times round the 
body, and confined the floating garment. One end 
of this girdle was doubled back, and sewn at the 
edge, so as to form a purse ; and was most likely 
referred to by our Saviour, when, sending forth his 
apostles on their holy mission of love, he said, 
''Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass, in 
your purses." The Eomans and Greeks also formed 
their purses by the folding of the girdle, and there 
carried their money. Paxton quotes the saying of 
C. Gracchus, in Aulus Gellius : ''Those girdles 
12* 



176 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

which I carried out full of money, when I went 
from Eome, I have, at my return from the province, 
brought home empty/' Forbes mentions that the 
Mahrattes of the present day generally carry in 
their leathern girdles, covered with velvet, their 
most valuable papers and precious jewels. 

It appears from the Scriptures, that the ancient 
Hebrevfs, like the modern Turks, wore a poniard or 
sword in their girdle ; for we read, '' And Joab's 
garment that he had put on was girded unto him, 
and upon it a girdle with a sword fastened upon his 
loins in the sheath thereof; and as he went forth, 
it fell out.'' This practice must not be understood 
as designed for a cruel and revengeful purpose, but 
originated in the want of knives. The Turkish 
secretary, or writer of modern days, substitutes for 
this weapon in his girdle the ink-horn and the pen ; 
and it seems probable that those among the Jews 
whose employments were of a literary character 
wore ink-horns in their girdles. Thus we read in 
Ezekiel of one who was clothed with linen, and 
had an ink-horn by his side. The pens too are 
placed in the girdle, and the ink-horn is firmly 
closed with a clasped lid. 



THE TRAFFICKING WOMAN. 177 

The manufacture of girdles for the merchants 
would, of course, employ many hands. When we 
consider, too, that girdles, as well as robes, are in 
request for presents all over the East, this alone 
requires a great supply. The Eev. W. Jowett has 
said that the two words " give, give," might very 
properly be taken as a motto to the armorial bear- 
ings of Syria. No one would think of appearing 
before a great man without a present in his hand : 
as says the proverb, ^' A man's gift maketh room 
for him, and bringeth him before great men ;" and 
the habit of giving gifts, especially of various parts 
of the dress, extends itself to the most ordinary 
occasions. The gift of a girdle from a warrior 
was evidently a great mark of friendship. Among 
the Greeks and Romans also it was thus considered. 
When Hector and Ajax ceased from the combat, in 
which they had encountered each other. Hector 
gave his girdle to Ajax, as a token of amity. In 
the book of Samuel we find Joab blaming the man 
who saw Absalom hanging in the wood, in these 
words, ''Why didst thou not smite him there to 
the ground ? and I would have given thee ten 
shekels of silver, and a girdle." Jonathan, too. 



178 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

the "lovely and pleasant'' Jonathan, when about 
to certify the covenant made between himself and 
his friend, gave, among other things, his girdle to 
David ; and even to the present day, the girdle is 
often loosed and given to one who is beloved. " And 
Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon 
him, and gave it to David ; and his garments, even 
to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. 'V 

" She, while her husband toiled in state affairs, 
Eased him of all his economic cares ; 
In all that bounded was within her sphere, 
Her wisdom shined, in her whole conduct clear ; 
No vain expense she on herself bestowed, 
A spirit frugal and yet generous showed ; 
She of God's blessings could no waste endure, 
But in rewards was bountiful and sure ; 
The poor had an allotted liberal share 
In all that she with decency could spare. 
Her usual dress was comely, never gay, 
No new vain fashion could her judgment sway ; 
Her speech was uncensorious and restrained, — 
All that she spake a pleased attention gained." 







( 






THE REPUTABLE WOMAN. 



181 



SECTION XVI. 

STRENGTH AND HONOR ARE HER CLOTHING; AND SHE SHALL 
REJOICE IN TIME TO COME. 

one can fail to see that the char- 
acter ascribed to this woman, espe- 
cially the stability of her conduct, 
and the good reputation which it 
h gained her, render this figure sufii- 
ciently expressive. She was, indeed, 
clothed in strength and honor, and might 
well rejoice in coming days. For old 
age she had prepared something more than 
a store of mere worldly good. She had not 
only been provident of present wealth, and 
wrought such works as time should not easily injure, 
— such as she should not blush to acknowledge as 
hers in future time, — but she had laid up in the 
hearts of her husband and children, and the poor 
and needy, a treasure of love, which time should 
not change. Above all, if the days should come, 
when, in the figurative language of Solomon, the 
grasshopper should be a burden, and desire should 




182 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

fail, and the almond-tree should blossom, her help 
and stay would be on God, her hope and trust in 
heaven, and the joy of the Lord should be her 
strength. He who had sustained her through the 
active period of life, — who had kept alive in her 
heart his love and fear at a period when tempta- 
tions from outward circumstances and inward 
feelings were great, — would not fail her in days 
when exertion would become toil, and when the 
desire of rest had taken the place of pleasure in 
her heart : for he had said, '' Even to your old age 
I am he ; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you." 
How beautiful and graceful is the repose of the 
aged servant of God ! How placid the mental rest 
and assurance of one who has served God from 
youth upward ! The Christian graces, mellowed by 
time, shine now with a mild and settled lustre ; and 
the meek waiting upon God dijBfuses over the later 
hours of life its calm and steady light, like the soft 
tints which the moon casts on the tranquil sea. 
Every one too must rejoice, who has been enabled, 
by God's grace, to maintain through life a consistent 
profession of holiness ; and to have spent the days 
in useful employment must bring to old age its 



THE REPUTABLE WOMAN. 183 

pleasant recollections. No self-gratulation would 
indeed fill the pious mind, on a review of the past. 
''Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but to thy 
name" be the praise, would be the exclamation of 
one who opened her mouth with wisdom ; but she 
would trace with thankfulness how God had led 
her all her life through the wilderness ; how he had 
placed her in a land where his ordinances were 
known, and his name honored; and had enabled 
her to conduct her household in the fear of the 
Lord, and to provide them with every temporal and 
spiritual good. For such blessings she would 
rejoice in the time to come, in the season of gray 
hairs ; for such pleasant remembrances, she would 
lift up her heart to God and be thankful. 

But the time to come may have reference to the 
day of death, — to that solemn hour of final parting 
with earth, — to that glorious moment of entering 
heaven ; and at a period when the worldly woman 
might shrink with fear, she might rejoice in the 
Lord. For David sang, and the response to his 
harp has been echoed by millions of God's children 
in the last hour, — '' Yea, though I walk through the 
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil ; 



184 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they 
comfort me." Leaning on this staff, how many 
pious men and women of all ages have entered the 
valley, singing as they went ! Many years before 
this time, Jacob had said, on. his dying bed, " I have 
waited for thy salvation, Lord ;" and Job, full 
of a fervent faith, had exclaimed, '' I know that 
my Eedeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the 
latter day upou the earth ; and though after my 
skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall 
I see God." We have not recorded for us the last 
breathings of Moses ; yet how calmly and cheerfully 
did he resign his breath ! And when the Lord bade 
him go up alone to Mount Nebo, and to die there, 
after having given his last glance to the promised 
land, what was his testimony of his heavenly 
Father? ^' Yea," said the dying saint, "the 
Lord loved his people ;" and looking up to God, he 
added, " all his saints are in thy hand :" and thus 
he rejoiced in God, when heart and flesh were fail- 
ing. '^Ah!" said a holy woman, known to the 
writer, '^ in a few moments I shall be in heaven ; I 
have nothing to do now ; I am only waiting : 



THE REPUTABLE WOMAN. 185 

how I long to be released ! Christ is with me ; 
nature may fail, but he never will/' 

The '' time to come '' may also have reference to 
eternity, — to the unending myriads of years to be 
spent in the presence of God, — to the days of 
glory to be passed in that heavenly city, to which 
the pious Jew, as well as the Christian, was tend- 
ing, where the inhabitant shall no more go out. 
And who shall describe or imagine the joys of 
heaven ? What earthly tongue shall tell of the 
rejoicing in that time to come, when the Lord shall 
say, ''Well done, thou good and faithful servant, 
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord'' ? 

" Hath she not soothed me sick, enriched when poor, 
And banished grief and misery from my door ? 
Hath she not cherished every moment's bliss, 
And made an Eden of a world like this ? 
When care would strive with us his watch to keep, 
Hath she not sung the snarling fiend to sleep ? 
And when distress hath looked us in the face, 
Hath she not told him, thou art not disgrace ? " 

13 



186 



THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 



SECTION XVII. 

SHE OPENETH HER MOUTH WITH WISDOM ; AND IN HER TONGUE IS 
THE LAW OF KINDNESS. 

BLIGHTED, we turn from the con- 
templation of the active duties of 
ithis Jewish matron, to the gentle 
', graces which adorn her character. So 
smany proofs of practical judiciousness 
-are exhibited in this portraiture, that we 
are not surprised to find that she also 
opened her mouth with wisdom. It is, 
S^ however, a most difficult part of self-govern- 
ment to guard the tongue. The apostle 
James recognized this, when he said, '^ If 
any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect 
man, and able also to bridle the whole body." And 
yet how important a medium of good or ill is con- 
versation! The children in a household gather 
instruction not only from direct teaching, but from 
the casual expressions to which they listen. A 
word spoken in due season, how good is it ! and 
happy are they, who form part of the domestic 




i 



THE PEACEFUL WOMAN. 189 

circle of one whose piety and experience of life 
enable her to give wise counsels, and to utter senti- 
ments of justice and truth. 

The wisdom for which this woman is commended 
related not alone to the things of the present Avorld. 
She was one who feared the Lord. She could tell 
to her listening household of the wonders of nature ; 
and of the deliverances wrought by God's providence 
to ancient Israel, how he brought them through the 
Red Sea, and out of the land of bondage, and gave 
them the promised country. She could point to the 
infallible laAVS of nature, and show that the morning 
sun and the evening star never disappointed him 
who watched for them in the heavens. She could 
point to the lily of the field, which bloomed at its 
appointed season, and to the swallow which knew 
the time of its coming, and infer from them that he 
who gave his written promise would as assuredly 
fulfil this also. She could discern in the types and 
figures of God's law the shadows of a more glorious 
future ; and the promise of Messiah, the Hope of 
Israel, who was to bring comfort and holiness to the 
church of God, was a living fountain of joy in her 
bosom. Doubtless, too, she could tell of family and 



190 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

individual mercies ; for God never implanted his fear 
in any human heart, but in that heart was awakened 
a chord of love and gratitude, which excited it to 
praise. She could remind her children of God's 
solemn commands, and, speaking of the saints of 
older times, could bid them to be '' not slothful, but 
followers of them who through faith and patience 
inherited the promises." Hers was the wisdom 
described in Scripture as that which cometh from 
above, which is " first pure, then peaceable, gentle, 
and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good 
fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." 

But the Avisdom of the Jewish woman related not 
alone to the things of our better life ; it took cog- 
nizance also of the affairs of this. While she did 
not always speak of the things of religion, she spoke 
always as a religious woman, as one who felt the 
responsibility of life and duty. 

" Me thinks we see thee, as in olden times, 
Unmoved by pomp or circumstance, — in truth, 
Inflexible, and with a Spartan zeal 
depressing vice and making folly grave. 
Thou didst not deem it woman's part to waste 
Life in inglorious sloth, — to sport a while 



THE PEACEFUL WOMAN. 191 

Amid the flowers, or on the summer wave, 
Then fleet, like the ephemeron, away ; 
Building no temple in her children's hearts, 
Save to the vanity and pride of life 
Which she had worshipped." 

The wisdom with which this woman opened her 
mouth was most likely that derived from experience 
of life, from thought and observation, and a knowl- 
edge of her own heart. It was something better 
than mere learning, and did not consist in a simple 
acquaintance with facts. Facts, with such a woman, 
would form the basis of intelligent thought ; and 
while her wisdom would not be opposed to cheerful 
converse and the play of fancy, it would discoun- 
tenance sin and folly, and all profane jestings or 
irreligious allusions, and qualify her to give good 
counsels as a mother in Israel. 

" Knowledge and wisdom, far from being one, 
Have ofttimes no connection. Knowledge dwells 
In heads replete with thoughts of other men ; 
Wisdom, in minds attentive to their own. 
Knowledge, a rude, unprofitable mass, 
The mere material with which wisdom builds, 
13* 



192 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

Till smoothed and squared, and fitted to its place, 
Does but encumber whom it seems to enrich. 
Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much, 
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more." 

It is a beautiful and appropriate praise of woman, 
that on her tongue is the law of kindness. When 
we look on this fallen world, and see what misery 
has been brought into it by sin ; that the storm, 
and the famine, and poverty, and sickness, bring 
sufferings which none can avert ; and when we see, 
too, that there exist sorrows deeper still than these, 
and hear the expressions wrung out from hearts full 
of anguish, — how strange does it seem, that any 
should add to the afflictions of life by a w^ant of 
kindness, or aggravate by cruel words the bitterness 
with which the heart is already breaking ! And if 
the sorrows of life demand sympathy and help from 
every member of the human family, — if it is by 
bearing one another's burdens that we are to fulfil 
the law of Christ, — surely there is an especial claim 
on woman for deeds and words of kindness. On 
her devolve all the tender offices of life. To her 
care is given the frail and helpless infant, needing 
from the hour of its birth all that deep and earnest 



THE PEACEFUL WOMAN. 193 

solicitude, and patience, and self-denial, which God 
has provided for in the richness and fulness of 
maternal love. In her charge, too, is placed the 
simple child, with its questionings of wonder and 
its innocent confidence ; needing the exercise of 
love and tenderness, to restrain the sinful propensi- 
ties of its nature, and to lead into the paths of peace. 
And where is woman's kindness more often needed, 
or more often seen, than in the chamber of sickness ? 
It is hers to watch through days and nights by the 
couch of suffering ; to tread so softly as not to 
disturb the lightest sleep ; to anticipate every want ; 
to bear patiently with the irritability of pain ; and 
to minister relief with a tact and unweariedness to 
be found nowhere so securely as in woman's love. 
It is often woman's lot, too, to point the dying man 
to that atonement for sin which the death of the 
Saviour has provided ; and frequently, in dwellings 
where the foot of the man of God may not have 
found its way, she may be found bringing the joyful 
tidings of salvation to the repentant sinner. 

" woman ! though thy fragile form 
Bows like the willow to the storm, 



194 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

Ill suited in unequal strife 

To brave the ruder scenes of life ; 

Yet, if the power of grace divine 

Find in thy lowly heart a shrine, 

Then, in thy very weakness strong, 

Thou winn'st thy noiseless course along ; 

Weaving thine influence with the ties 

Of sweet domestic charities. 

And softening haughtier spirits down, 

By happy contact with thine own." 

God has proyided for woman's duties by endow- 
ing her with the faculties which tend to their per- 
formance. He has given the quick sensibility ; the 
lively imagination, which helps her to guess, by a 
word or glance, at the feelings of others ; and, in 
most cases, a warm devotion to those whom she 
loves ; and it cannot be denied that impulses of 
kindness are generally found in the female sex. It 
remains for a holier motive than mere human feel- 
ing to make this kindness constant and enduring ; 
and it needs a sense of duty, derived from a consid- 
eration of love to God, to enable woman to be kind 
always, and be kind to all, even her enemies, and 
especially to let all her words be governed by the 
law of kindness. 



THE PEACEFUL WOMAN. 195 

It is often a painful subject of remark, that some- 
times the very woman whose kind acts may be 
depended on is guilty of a serious want of kindness 
in her conversation ; but it must be admitted that 
many, even of the educated in our own land, — -nay, 
many even among Christian women, — are lament- 
ably deficient in this respect. This we shall see, 
if we consider to what the law of kindness in the 
tongue is opposed. It is opposed to angry words. 
How many yield to angry passions, and utter, in 
unguarded moments, words which can never be 
recalled, and which leave a painful impression on 
others, not to be effaced, while they thus lay up for 
themselves a store of bitter remembrances ! Many 
reproofs are given in anger, which excite in the 
person reproved no feeling but that of ill-will ; 
whereas, had they been spoken wisely and gently, 
they might have softened the heart. Anger is a 
temporary madness, discomposing the spirit, and 
rendering it unfit either for earthly duty or heavenly 
communion. It is, as the proverb declares, '^a 
snare to the soul." A person cannot pray while 
under its influence. How can we ask for sins to 
be forgiven, if we are either angry without a cause, 



196 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

or even on lawful causes are carrying anger too far ? 
or who can turn, in the midst of proud and angry 
words, to the lowly prayer, the confession of sin, 
the deep humility of heart, with which alone we 
can approach the footstool of Jehovah ? It is not 
before God's throne that we can indulge in wrath ; 
and as we may at any moment be called to die, so 
we ought at every moment to be fit for prayer. 
And wrath and anger are especially sinful and dis- 
pleasing in a woman, as gentleness is her especial 
virtue. '^A man,'' says a female writer, ''in a 
furious passion, is terrible to his enemies ; but a 
woman in a passion is disgusting to her friends ; 
she loses the respect due to her sex, and she has 
not masculine strength and courage to enforce any 
other species of respect." 

There is indeed an anger which is not sinful, nor 
contrary to the law of kindness which should ever 
govern a woman's tongue. There is a righteous 
indignation against sin and oppression, which we 
find enjoined in Scripture by the words, ''Be ye 
angry, and sin not," and which the holy apostles, 
and even our Saviour himself, so often expressed 
while on earth. Had not public anger been shown 



THE PEACEFUL WOMAN. 197 

against slavery, our country might still have labored 
under its heavy guilt, and our fellow-creatures 
under its mighty curse. Against this, as against 
other national and individual sins, woman's voice 
was not wanting to express displeasure, nor was 
woman's hand slow to aid the great philanthropists 
who sought its extinction. So, in private life, warm 
and indignant words against wrong and guilt, so 
far from offending God, are often marked by his 
approbation, as proofs of that deep feeling of right, 
and that moral courage, for which the holy woman 
of the text was commended by the pen of inspira- 
tion. 

The apostle James, whose epistle contains more 
admonitions against the sins of the tongue than can 
be found in any other portion of Holy Writ, has 
said, " The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity : 
so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth 
the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of 
nature, and it is set on fire of hell." ! beau- 
tiful on woman's lips is the law of kindness, turning 
away wrath by a soft answer ; bearing with the 
irritabilities or the infirmities of others, who have 
had fewer advantages in early training ; enforcing 



198 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

truth with gentleness and persuasion, and uttering 
that love which is described by St. Paul as that 
which ''beareth all things, believeth all things, 
hopeth all things, and endureth all things." 

But far more commonly, among women in gen- 
eral, is the law of kindness violated by censorious- 
ness, or by sarcastic remark, than by anger. This 
sin of the tongue is peculiar to neither sex, but is 
one which prevails to a great extent in female 
society. The peculiar faculties of women, as well 
as their habits, make this an offence against which 
they ought to be watchful. In them exist a quick- 
ness of perception and imagination, and conse- 
quently a ready sense of the ludicrous ; and these, 
combined with a facility of speech, a power of 
detail, and often a great degree of leisure, expose 
them to the temptation of indulging in that '' evil 
speaking" which God's word has commanded us to 
put far away from us. The habit of censuring the 
absent has much in it which ought to be offensive 
to every generous mind. '^ Thou shalt not speak 
evil of the deaf," is one of the commands of the 
law of Moses, which appeals to every right senti- 
ment ; yet the same principle might be carried 



THE PEACEFUL WOMAN. 199 

further, and lead us to avoid speaking ill of the 
absent. 

Nor is censoriousness chargeable only on those 
who strive to exaggerate the reports of evil which 
they may have heard, or who put on them the worst 
possible construction. To a sin like this surely 
Christian women cannot be addicted ; but many, 
alas ! are not exempt from the habit of dwelling, 
in conversation, on the actual faults and follies of 
others. Few seem to think it is a sin, y^t it is 
decidedly opposed to the law of kindness that should 
regulate the tongue. It is a practice, too, w^hich 
increases by indulgence. 

It may begin by an expression of displeasure 
against vice, but soon advances to a watchfulness 
for offences in others. If we are to make a man 
an offender for a word, if we are to watch narrowly 
for his faults, it is generally easy enough to find 
some cause of censure. In many things we offend 
all ; and few indeed are they who can be found 
always exempt from the blame of censoriousness. But 
when we are speaking of the faults of our neighbor, 
we are sinning against love. And how many are 
the reputations which have been injured by the 
14 



200 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

repetition of casual remarks ! Well might the 
Hebrew sage declare, that '^life and death are in 
the power of the tongue ;'' for unkind remarks, and 
unjust suspicions, have sometimes subjected the 
sensitive to griefs more distressing than even death 
itself. 

" ! never, never let us fiing 

The barb of woe to wound another ; 
! never let us haste to bring 
The cup of sorrow to a brother.'* 

And who are they who are foremost to detect the 
faults of others, and to judge them severely ? Cer- 
tainly not those who have watched most diligently 
over their own hearts. They who have striven and 
longed most for conformity to the law of God, and 
to the example of the Saviour, know best how 
many graces need diligent cultivation, how many 
sins need to be subdued. They know, too, that 
often, when they have believed that some sin had 
been conquered, it has, in an unguarded hour, again 
given them sorrow, and again they have had to 
pray for help, and to strive against it. And ever 
has it been seen that the best and holiest are the 



THE PEACEFUL AVOMAN. 201 

most pitiful ; and that they who have the law of 
kindness on the tongue are the very women who 
are most likely also to open the mouth with wis- 
dom, and to live in the consistent practice of every 
feminine duty. 

And the sarcastic reply, too, how frequently does 
it wound ! If others sin, we are not to let that sin 
pass unnoticed. '' Thou shalt in any wise rebuke 
thy brother, and not suffer sin upon him." But in 
what way is reproof to be administered ? We are 
told to rebuke with all long-suffering and gentle- 
ness. Sin is a deep evil ; it is not to be spoken of 
lightly, nor to be the subject of a bitter jest. It 
is to engage our earnest expostulation. The apostle 
spoke, even weeping, of those who were enemies 
to the cross of Christ ; and with a conviction of 
our sinful nature, and our dependence on the grace 
of Grod for safety, we are to reprove others. Sar- 
casm should never be on the lip of a Christian 
woman, for she, indeed, should ever be found with 
the law of kindness on her tongue. If bitterness 
is in the word of reproof, the reprover is not sinless ; 
and her rebuke does not originate from the love of 
God, and the hatred of sin, but from the indulgence 
of a sinful nature. Pride must not be met by 



202 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

pride ; pride in others is never cured by being 
mortified and insulted, but is rather increased into 
hatred and revenge. Wherefore, putting away all 
wrath and malice, and evil speaking, '' be kindly 
affectioned one to another." 

The law of kindness is often broken, also, by 
haughty words spoken to inferiors, w^hen, forgetful 
that the dependant is one of God's large family, he 
is addressed as a stranger and an alien. The 
haughty look and the proud heart are an abomina- 
tion unto the Lord. Pride ever proceeds, too, from 
an ignorance of ourselves, as Wordsworth has said : 

" He who feels contempt for any living thing 

Has faculties within his soul which he has never used ; 
And thought with him is in its infancy." 

Who has not marked the mild and blessed influ- 
ence of her on whose tongue is the law of kindness ? 
It is to such a woman that the little child comes for 
direction. It is to such that the sufferer tells his 
tale of sorrow, in full certainty of that ready sym- 
pathy which can do so much to lessen it ; and 
whether the tale be that of bodily pain, or of the 
deeper woe of mental emotion ; whether it be of 
the convinced spirit struggling with a sense of sin, 



THE PEACEFUL WOMAN. 203 

and with only a vague idea of the possibility of 
pardon, or perhaps with no idea at all ; or whether 
it be some temporary cause of depression, some 
worldly loss, or some unexpected unkindness, — ^yet 
all may be soothed by the gentle accents of compas- 
sion and tenderness. How many quarrels are 
averted by the mediation and counsel of such a 
woman ! how many beginnings of strife stopped in 
their progress by a word of gentle remonstrance ! 
and how many little domestic troubles prevented or 
met by her kindly warning or encouragement ! 
And let no woman say that she cannot acquire a 
sweet temper ; that she cannot always have on her 
lips the law of kindness. She may be naturally 
irritable, and, worse still, her natural irritability 
may never have been checked by the restraining 
power of early education ; but there is a deeper 
and fuller restraining influence than even that, — 
namely, the principle of love to God ; and the cul- 
tivation of this love in the heart will lead to a 
prayer for holiness of heart and lip, which never 
goes up to Heaven unanswered, and to a constant 
and earnest striving with a besetting sin, which 

God's Holy Spirit will aid and bless. 
14# 



204 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 



SECTION XVIII. 

SHE LOOKETH WELL TO THE WAYS OF HER HOUSEHOLD, AND 
EATETH NOT THE BREAD OF IDLENESS. 

^^NOWING, as we do, the great influ- 
lence which family training has on the 
world at large, we cannot wonder 
^that he who divided mankind into 
families should so commend the woman 
i who looked well to the ways of those who 
^compose the circle which she superintends. 
^The constant recognition of family duties, 
"the emphatic injunctions that women should 
^be keepers at home, and love their husbands 
and love their children, all lead us to the 
remembrance that God is not only the God of each 
individual, but that he is indeed the God of all 
families. It was the praise given of the patriarch, 
by Jehovah, " I know Abraham, that he will com- 
mand his household after him." Moses reminded 
the ancient Hebrew that the statutes of God were 
not for himself only, but that ''they were for his 
son's son, all the days of his life ;'Vand added to his 




THE DOMESTIC WOMAN. 207 

command the assurance " that it may be well with 
thee, and with thy children after thee." The 
Great Founder of human families knew that it could 
be well with the people in general only in propor- 
tion as household duty and religion were taught and 
practised. From the house, the quiet hearth, and 
the peaceful vine-arbor, were to go forth those who 
should form the future nation. And still the sena- 
tor and the philosopher, the philanthropist and the 
missionary, go from the house of youth full of the 
sentiments which they have learned there, and with 
their habits formed on the model of home. 

There is something so endearing in the ties which 
weave around the early home, that every human 
heart feels their power. The gentle words of a 
mother's love, the counsels of a father's wisdom, 
how do they return with freshness and vividness 
upon the spirit, long after the lips which uttered 
them have mingled with the dust ; and are awakened 
with all their power by some little incident, some 
casual word, the sight of a handwriting, the scent of 
a flower. The Rev. James Hamilton records the nar- 
rative of one who unexpectedly joined with a family 
in the solemn service of family prayer ; one who 



208 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

had wandered from God and truth, yet was recalled 
to religion and duty by this circumstance. And 
was it the word of God, as uttered in that prayer, 
which subdued the proud spirit of infidelity ? No ! 
he heard it not ; his heart was filled with the remem- 
brances of home. He thought of the peaceful hearth 
on which his own father once knelt, and commended 
to God his surrounding family. All the guilt which 
he had incurred by his forge tfulness of the prayers 
and lessons of home rushed upon his spirit, and from 
that hour he sought the God of his fathers. 

And who has never felt a deep emotion at the 
thought of the home of his youth ? The child at 
school yearns for his home ; the sailor on the deep* 
is full of thoughts of that one happy spot of earth ; 
and when the angry waves threaten his bark, his 
heart swells with the remembrance of home. The 
prodigal who wilfully left that home is often led 
back to the paths of virtue and religion, as some of 
its teachings are brought to his mind. And the 
exile, and the weary wanderer, — is not home to 
them so dear, as that they cannot name it but with 
a trembling breath ? and as the moon smiles out on 
the scene of their exile, does not the recollection 



THE DOMESTIC WOMAN. 209 

that she smiles too on their home bow down even 
the strong man, and bring tears into the eyes of 
those who are little used to weep ? And the wan- 
derer on this world's wilderness, who has found that 
earth has no home for him, — can any sweeter 
description be given to him, or one which speaks 
more touchingly to his heart of a future world, than 
this, ''There remaineth therefore a rest to the 
people of God," — a home never to change, — a 
mansion that passeth not away ? 

When God gives to a mother's care a helpless 
child, what a solemn charge does the mother receive ! 
A being born for eternity, a creature destined to 
everlasting happiness or misery, is committed to 
her, and its future character and destiny in great 
measure dependent on her instruction and example 
— its eternal condition often determined by the hours 
spent in the home of its parents. And God has 
given great encouragement to the mother who looks 
well to the ways of her household ; for when he 
says, '' Train up a child in the way he should go," 
he adds the promise, " and when he is old he will 
not depart from it." This promise has often been 
fulfilled in the holy and useful lives of those whose 



210 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

home has proved a nursery for God. And though 
the child of a pious mother may stray in youth from 
the ways of wisdom, yet often he returns to the path 
of truth before he is old. And when w^e see the 
child of religious parents wandering on in error and 
vice, and at last dying impenitent, shall we con- 
clude that the promise of God has failed ? Alas ! 
it is not every pious mother who looks well to the 
ways of her household. The love of the creature 
sometimes overpowers for a time the love of the 
Creator ; and, as in the case of the sons of Eli, the 
child is too often left to his uncontrolled passions, 
and the mother, in helpless sorrow, looks on the 
growth of vices which it was her duty to check, 
and drinks at last, with bitter anguish, the cup 
which her own mismanagement and indulgence 
had filled. She can value and keep God's word 
herself, but has not courage to command her chil- 
dren, or to make them obey. 

Nor is it only while the child forms one of his 
parents' household, that there is a danger of failing 
in the duty of training him rightly. Many a pious 
parent fulfils to the children under his roof the com- 
mand given to God's ancient people when Moses 



THE DOMESTIC WOMAN. 211 

said, ''These words, which I command thee this 
day, shall be in thine heart ; and thou shalt teach 
them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of 
them when thou sittest in thine house, and when 
thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, 
and when thou risest up/' But ambition and the 
love of the world, which seemed to have been stifled 
in the parent's heart for himself, are sometimes 
awakened for his child. He may have seemed to 
learn the lesson of being content with lowly things, 
but is tempted to seek great things for his children. 
How often do we see this when a child is sent forth 
from his own home ! Some school, eminent for the 
learning and accomplishments of its instructor, is 
preferred to that in which piety forms the basis of 
education. Some eligible appointment presents 
itself. Some means of increasing riches, some 
opportunity of forming connections which may be 
of use in advancing his progress in the world, is 
offered ; and the child, trained in his parents' house- 
hold to the duties of religion and virtue, is sent into 
the world, at an age when liis character is unformed, 
into scenes of great danger. And then come the 
bitter consequences. The youth forgets the coun- 



212 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

sels of wisdom ; he stifles the voice of conscience ; 
and the pleasures of the world allure him. Perhaps 
he loses his morality, or even if his outward conduct 
remains the same, yet spiritual religion gradually 
loses its influence ; and the very mother who in 
early life looked diligently to his ways, has perhaps 
joined her efforts in sending him thus unshielded 
into the world. 

The looking well to the ways of her household 
includes also the care of domestic servants ; and the 
maidens to whom the Jewish matron gave their por- 
tion of food and work were doubtless guarded from 
evil by her watchful prudence. Some mistresses 
appear to think that little responsibihty attaches to 
them with regard to servants, and that so long as 
they provide them with home, and food, and wages, 
they perform all the duty required. But the ways 
of every member of a household should be looked to 
by her whom Providence has placed at the head of 
a family. The habits of life, the moral and religious 
character of each, should be regarded by the mis- 
tress ; and if an ignorant servant becomes a member 
of a household, she should be instructed. It is 
plainly the duty of all to lead a useful life, and it is 



THE DOMESTIC WOMAN. 213 

in the immediate circle that we are to commence 
our labors. The mistress of a family, while remem- 
bering that her own advantages of training may- 
have been superior to those placed under her care, 
should strive that every servant who enters her 
dwelling should be benefited during her residence 
there. Especially she should employ the means of 
restraint with which she is endowed by her authority, 
to prevent any irregularity of conduct, and the prac- 
tice of any wrong habits. She should see to the 
ways of her household, by taking care that every 
one composing it should attend to the means of 
religion. Time and opportunity should be given for 
serving God. Her authority should keep them from 
scenes of vice and dissipation, and from evil com- 
pany ; and, in forming her domestic plans, it is hers 
to regulate both their comfort and their duty, on the 
broad principle of Christian benevolence : '' What- 
soever ye would that others should do unto you, do 
ye also unto them." 

It is desirable for the comfort of a family, and 
for its permanent welfare, that the servants should 
be rightly directed and kindly treated. Such con- 
duct meets its immediate reward. Children are 
15 



214 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

necessarily influenced by them, and in that respect 
the character of servants is most important to every 
household. In every family in which they are 
kept, their performance of duty is requisite for 
order and comfort, and this must be determined by 
their moral character. Their willing service, and 
even their thoughtful tenderness, are required in 
the hour of sickness, and their sympathy and help 
is sometimes wanted in the day of sorrow. During 
that awful season of tragic suffering comprised in 
the French revolution, many valuable lives were 
saved by the attachment of confidential servants ; 
and that period, remarkable for the exhibition of 
some of the deepest crimes and some of the 
sweetest Airtues of human nature, presents a record 
of devoted men and maidens, who counted not even 
their own lives dear unto them, so that they might 
rescue from danger some mistress whose former 
kindness had cheered them, or some helpless child 
whom they once had carried in their arms. The 
history of the church of God, too, could present 
details of holy and useful servants, from the time 
when Phoebe was a servant at Cenchrea, and Onesi- 
mus was dear to the apostle Paul, to the recent 



THE DOMESTIC WOMAN. 215 

days when the Dairyman's Daughter performed her 
humble duties with exalted faith and fervent piety, 
till her spirit sought its heavenly home, and her 
frame was laid in its lowly grave. 

A woman so well taught in wisdom's ways as the 
matron of the text, would know well that idleness 
leads certainly to vice and sorrow. Idleness and 
fulness of bread were the vices mentioned as 
exciting God's wrath against the sinful Sodom, and 
were doubtless the chief means of fostering all its 
depravity. It is, indeed, the source of a thousand 
ills, and so certain a cause of discomfort, that 
happier is he who earns his bread by the sweat of 
his brow, than he who spends his life in indolence. 
Cheerfulness is almost the necessary result of mod- 
erate employment, just as ennui and languor are the 
consequences of a life without pursuit. '' Idleness," 
says old Burton, somewhat quaintly, '' is the badge 
of gentry ; the bane of body and mind ; the nurse 
of naughtiness ; the step-mother of discipline ; the 
chief author of all mischief ; one of the seven deadly 
sins ; the cushion on which the devil chiefly 
reposes ; and a great cause, not only of melancholy, 
but of many other diseases ; for the mind is natu- 



216 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

rally active, and if it be not occupied about some 
honest business, it rushes into mischief, or sinks into 
melancholy." 

And what woman would wish so to pass her life 
that at death she should not be missed ? Of how 
many might it be said that the world and the home 
could well spare them ; but who can tell the worth 
of a life spent in useful occupation ? It is not till 
the seat is vacant on which the busy matron sat, — it 
is not till the implements of industry lie by unused, 
till the animatino; voice is silent, and the busv hand 
is still, — that we fully perceive how much was done 
hourly, and quietly, and surely, in the well-regu- 
lated home. From many such a hearth, when the 
mother has been taken, the comfort of home is gone 
too ; and ill-managed children, once so tenderly 
cared for, show their orphan condition to every 
passer by. There is a solemn responsibility attach- 
ing to life, — a responsibility only to be met by 
active exertion ; and a woe is denounced against 
the idle. A woman who looked well to the ways 
of her household would not only herself avoid eat- 
ing the bread of idleness, but she would see that 
each one had a suitable engagement ; and every 



THE DOMESTIC WOMAN. 217 

one who is the mother of a family not compelled to 
work, should strive to interest her childrennn some 
one employment which they should cultivate with 
pleasure, and which should call forth their latent 
energies. Much may be done for the young, by 
consulting their tastes, and encouraging them in 
some pursuit ; and the skill to select this does not 
require in the mother so much talent, as the exer- 
tion of that tact which is so common to w^omen, and 
which, like many other faculties, is rendered 
stronger by a woman's affection. 

One of the first aims of education should be to 
promote activity of mind ; and the acquisition of a 
taste for simple and unexpensive pleasures is, in 
itself, so valuable a source of enjoyment, that it is 
to be regretted that this is also not made a more 
usual part of education. On this account, may be 
recommended the study of the various departments 
of natural history and science. It may seem to 
matter little, indeed, that a woman should be a 
botanist, or an entomologist, though all would 
allow that these pursuits might afford much pleas- 
ure ; but the activity of mind, and the power of 
application and observation, which such a study will 
15* 



218 THE EXCELLENT AVOMAN. 

awaken, is of incalculable worth. Plutarch said 
that a woman who studied geometry would not be 
fond of dancing ; and we may add, that a woman 
who feels interested in studies of this nature will 
neither be frivolous nor idle. 

But it is only to the few that the choice of the 
pursuits of life is left. The many are called to 
work in this anxious, toiling world, and thousands 
are sighing for that leisure which others waste so 
carelessly. But has active and regular employment 
no advantages ? Does not the heart fill with 
pleasure, when the eye marks the fruit of exertion ; 
and does not the hour of occasional recreation 
bring with it far more of enjoyment, and is it not 
fuller of life, than is the day of indolence to the 
unemployed ? Above all, is not the busy man or 
woman living the life which God has ordained ? His 
own word has said, " If any will not work, neither 
shall he eat." . The ancient Hebrews had all their 
occupations. The rich and the poor were alike 
taught in the knowledge of some business, by which 
they might labor with hand or head ; nor did rank 
or station exempt any from useful toil. And the 
result of this- industry w:as a thoughtful and proAd- 



THE DOMESTIC WOMAN. 219 

dent people ; a nation standing out from oriental 
nations generally, as marked by an energy and 
force of character, much of which has descended to 
the modern Jew, under aU the varied circumstances 
of place and time. 

In the consideration of the Christian graces, one 
cannot help remarking that they are all active. 
Piety is not to consist in quiet contemplation, but 
in active duty. If we read in the Scripture of 
love, then there is the labor of love ; and every 
kind heart knows the truth of the proverb, that love 
can make labor light. If we read of faith, it is 
of an active faith, — a work of faith, — a faith which 
overcometh the world. If of hope, then is it a hope 
powerful enough to expel sin, since he who hath 
this hope purifieth himself, even as God is pure. 
Holy principle must lead to holy practice ; and the 
woman who, while professing to serve God, neglects 
the duty of caring for her household, dishonors her 
Christian profession, and brings disgrace upon God's 
cause. Even the Great Creator of the universe 
himself is represented as active. Our Saviour 
remarked, ''My Father worketh hitherto, and I 
work." Our blessed Lord lived a life of unwearied 



220 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

labor in the cause of man. The angels, too, are 
represented as employed, not only in tuning their 
harps of gold and singing the songs of the celestial 
city, but as winging their way to this world on 
ministries of love ; and who shall say how much 
they who shall be heirs of salvation are indebted to 
their guardian care ? 

" Where burns the loved hearth brightest, 

Cheering the social breast ? 
Where beats the fond heart lightest, 

Its humble hopes possessed ? 
Where is the smile of sadness, 

Of meek-eyed patience born, 
Worth more than those of gladness, 

Which mirth's bright cheek adorn ? 
Pleasure is marked by fleetness 

To those who ever roam, 
While grief itself has sweetness 

At Home, dear Home ! " 



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¥iEn !H [y g IB i^ j>] © ^\ L g '€) p 



THE COMMENDED WOMAN. 



223 



SECTION XIX. 

HER CHILDREN ARISE UP, AND CALL HER BLESSED: HER HUSBAND 
ALSO, AND HE PRAISETH HER. 

ERY probably the expression of 
rising up to bless the parent may 
jhave some allusion to the eastern 
practice of rising and bowing to the 
'ground before the head of the family, 
g?j as this mode of reverence is very general. 
t Yet it will bear the meaning in which it 
f would be taken in our land, — that the 
children rise from infancy to childhood, 
Und on to youth and manhood, with hearts 
full of affection, and grateful recollections of 
the worth of an excellent mother. 

It has been said that home praise is the truest 
praise ; and it is certain we can be known by none 
so well as by those who surround the family hearth. 
A far higher virtue and more consistent excellence 
belongs to her of whom aU her household can speak 
well, than to those who can shine only in company, 
and who require but the charms of politeness and 




224 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

the graces of conversation to gain approval. And 
how pleasant is it to hear the blessings bestowed by 
the child on the name of the good mother ! "Who 
shall tell the hours of anxiety, the words of care 
and tenderness, which such a mother has bestowed 
on his infancy ; the sleepless nights, and careful 
days, and all the maternal solicitudes, which shielded 
from harm his childhood and early youth ; and which, 
as he grew older, changed their mode of expression, 
but never lost sight of their object ? Truly did 
Gray say, " We can never have but one mother." 
No love, not even the tenderest, can equal hers ; 
for she wiU love on, though sickness should wither 
the flower and turn all its beauty into decay ; and 
fix her firmest and deepest affection on that one of 
her children who has least of outward grace and 
loveliness. Her love, unlike all others, can with- 
stand neglect, and ingratitude, and forgetfulness. 
The prodigal son may stray from his home, and the 
world may frown on him, and frown justly ; and all 
the love of neighbors, or of friends, or even of 
brother or sister, may have been worn out by his folly 
and wickedness ; yet is there a stream of love in 
the mother's heart, ever fresh and ever living ; he is 



THE COMMENDED WOMAN. 225 

still her own loved son ; and one word of penitence, 
one look of sorrow, will win forgiveness for a life of 
unkindness. The love of a mother is like the bounty 
of God, who '^ causeth his sun to rise on the evil 
and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and 
on the unjust." 

It is, indeed, a sure proof of their excellent edu- 
cation, when all the children of a family can arise 
and call their mother blessed. And when all are 
gathered in the circle of love, such a home presents 
the loveliest scene on earth. 

** Domestic Happiness, thou only bliss 
Of Paradise that has survived the fall ! 
Though few now taste thee, unimpaired and pure ; 
Or, tasting, long enjoy thee ; too infirm 
Or too incautious to preserve thy sweets 
Unmixed with drops of bitter, which neglect 
Or temper sheds into thy crystal cup. 
Thou art the nurse of Virtue ; — in thine arms 
She smiles, appearing, as in truth she is, 
Heaven-born, and destined to the skies agam." 

When the law was given from Mount Sinai to 
ancient Israel, we find included in it not only the 
reverence of the father, but '' Thou shalt honor thy 



22& THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

father and thy mother/' was its direct injunction. 
It would be from the lip of his mother that the 
Jewish child would learn his most sacred lessons. 
It must be remembered that the young Israelite had 
no school but his home. He was not sent away 
from the paternal roof to gather learning ; but under 
its happy shadow he learned, from his parents' lips, 
his knowledge of business, of life and duty, and 
became early familiar with the law of God. He 
had not, perhaps, even his smaller Bible to refer to, 
but this law was taught in the house when the family 
met together ; it was written up upon the gates of 
the city, and read aloud by the priests and Levites 
to assembled multitudes. It does not seem that, 
previous to the Babylonish captivity, the ancient 
Israelites had schools, save those for the '^sons 
of the prophets," — the pious youths who were 
destined to be teachers in Israel ; — but many a 
mother's tongue could tell of Israel's Hope, the 
glorious Messiah, the Prince of the people, for 
whom every devout Israelite was hoping and look- 
ing ; and for whose advent the Hebrew matron was 
so anxious, that she grieved if she was childless, 
because she hoped that from her house might spring 



THE COMMENDED WOMAN. 227 

forth the '' Prophet like unto Moses." Guided by 
his mother's hand, the Jewish child went to the 
temple, which God had chosen. From her lip he 
learned the meaning of those yearly festivals, when 
every male among the Jews appeared in Jerusalem, 
the holy city ; and when, in after times, they sang, 
as they went up, that beautiful Psalm, — ^' I was 
glad when they said unto me. Let us go into the 
house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand mthin thy 
gates, Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city 
that is compact together : whither the tribes go up, 
the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, 
to give thanks unto the name of the Lord." And 
thus the pious Hebrew mother would weave with 
her child's earliest impressions a store of associations 
to bless his after years. that every mother in 
our own land would make her home a nursery for 
God ; and teach such Christian principle, and enjoin 
such Christian practice, as would fully insure her 
children's love ! Then of every American mother 
might it be said, ''Her children arise up, and call 
her blessed." 

The husband of the excellent woman is repre- 
sented as adding his praise to that of the younger 
16 



228 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

members of the family. He could indeed point to 
her example for their imitation. He could praise 
her, not alone for the comfort which her useful 
energy cast throughout his home, but for the sweet- 
ness which her gentleness and goodness brought 
into it, and which rendered it so attractive. He 
could tell of enjoyment provided by her industry ; 
of anxieties prevented by her caution ; of sorrows 
lightened by her sympathy ; and could perhaps look 
around on children walking in the fear of the Lord, 
who learned that fear from the teaching of their 
mother. 

"0, say to mothers what a holy charge 
Is theirs ! — with what a kingly power their love 
Might rule the fountain of the new-born mind ! 
Warn them to wake at early dawn, and sow 
Good seed before the world hath sown her tares ; 
Nor in their toil decline, that angel bands 
May put their sickle in, and reap for God, 
And gather to his garner." 



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THE PRE-EMINENT WOMAN. 



231 



SECTION XX. 

MANY DAUGHTERS HAVE DONE VIRTUOUSLY, BUT THOU EXCELLEST 

THEM ALL. 




UDGINGr from probabilities, we 
can hardly suppose that this high 
commendation is intended to be 
taken by the inspired writer as 
^the praise given by God to the Jewish 
matron. Commentators generally 
) refer it to the warm expression of affec- 
tion and esteem uttered either by her 
husband or children, on a review of her 
consistent and valuable life. Nor was this 
expression of an overflowing affection with- 
out justice or truth ; for one who acted so well 
would far exceed in virtue the generality of 
wives and mothers, and would probably be superior 
in worth to any woman known by those who praised 
her. The Septuagint, Syriac, and other versions, 
render this passage, ''Many daughters have gath- 
ered riches ;" and as industry seems to have been a 
ruling feature in the character of Hebrew women 



232 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

generally, at this early period, this rendering would 
not be unsuitable. In such case, the praise would 
extend not only to the number of garments which 
she had wrought for merchandise, but to her skiU 
in acquiring property, and her care in preventing 
an unnecessary expenditure of wealth. 

But although so finished a degree of excellence 
as that recorded in this beautiful poem must, at 
any period of this world's history, have been a rare 
attainment, yet a great degree of loveliness and 
virtue marked many of the women of early days. 
To all the mental vigor, and industry, and noble 
sentiments, which belong to the matron of ancient 
Rome, the Jewish female seems to have added a 
warm, enthusiastic, and gentle tenderness, which 
renders her lovelier than the sterner Roman lady ; 
and which, while it commands our respect, wins a 
deeper and warmer love. Nor was the Hebrew 
woman wanting in that clear intellect, or versatility 
of talent, which fitted her for rivalling the Grecian 
dame in the lighter and more graceful accomplish- 
ments of life. The commands of Moses, the 
writings of the prophets, — nay, the very history of 
the creation of the world, on which the eye of the 



THE PRE-EMINENT WOMAN. 233 

ancient Israelite pondered, — all taught that woman 
was not intended for the slave of man. Recognizing 
the woman as an immortal being, providing for her 
protection and comfort, giving to her, as to her 
husband, the assurances of God's favor and the 
hopes of a future life, presenting her to the Hebrew 
as the mother of the coming Messiah, the Jewish 
woman was raised above that degradation to which 
the oriental female was subjected ; and still, even 
in Asia, enjoys a freedom and an importance 
unknown among other Asiatics. ''The singular 
beauty of the Hebrew women," says an interesting 
writer, " and the natural warmth of their affections, 
have conspired to throw gems of domestic loveli- 
ness over the pages of the Bible. In no history 
can there be found a greater number of charming 
female portraits. From Hagar, down to Mary and 
Martha, the Bible presents pictures of womanly 
beauty that are unsurpassed and rarely paralleled. 
But we should very imperfectly represent, in these 
general remarks, the formative influence of the 
female character as seen in the Bible, did we not 
refer these amiable traits of character to the original 
conceptions of which we have spoken, and to the 
16^ 



234 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

pure and lofty religious ideas which the American 
books in general present. If woman, then, appears 
as the companion and friend of man, if she rises to 
that noble position which is held by the mother of a 
family, she owes her elevation in the main to the 
religion of Moses and to that of Jesus. The first 
system, as a preparatory one, did not, and could not, 
complete the emancipation of woman.'' Let Ameri- 
can females remember Avhat Christianity has done for 
them, and that their responsibility is consequently 
greatly increased. 

" Charms there may be, that waken admiration 
When first beheld, that have no dwelling-place 
On memory's tablet ; while on it we trace 
Features less perfect, and less marked at first, 
But made indelible by softer grace ; 
Too unobtrusive all at once to burst 
Upon the gazer's soul, — once known, forever nursed 
With cherished fondness, for the much-loved sake 
Of purest happiness, which these alone 
Have had the power within our hearts to wake, 
By witchery peculiarly their own." 










A 



THE GODLY WOMAN. 



237 



SECTION XXI. 

FAVOR IS DECEITFUL, AND BEAUTY IS VAIN ; BUT A WOMAN THAT 
FEARETH THE LORD, SHE SHALL BE PRAISED. 

ITTLE do we need a revelation to 
I tell us that worldly favor is vain 
(indeed: experience of the world 
attests it ; and the philosopher, and, 
still more frequently, the poet, have 
^ again and again lamented the worthless- 
mess of the favor of this world. For a 
little while, the man who rises in general 
favor is loved and honored, his presence 
welcomed, his opinion valued ; but soon some 
new favorite takes his place, and general 
adulation is directed to the rising sun. How many 
have sickened, as they told how in hours of pros- 
perity the smile of the rich and the praise of the 
young and gay were given for a season ; and then, 
as some new mood came over the public mind, they 
were left to die in poverty ; while they who once 
sought their society looked at them now with cold 
indifference, and passed by them as strangers. 




238 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

But the instability of worldly favor is not con- 
fined to public praise ; for, in the more private 
circles of fashionable life, it is equally deceitful. 
Favor is given to a woman because she is rich, or 
beautiful, or elegant. She is praised and admired, 
and learns to take such admiration as her right ; 
and she finds it a true proverb, that ^' Men will 
praise thee when thou doest well to thyself.'' But 
poverty comes suddenly, even as an armed man ; 
sickness overtakes her, and all her beauty fades like 
that of the flower of the field ; and the graces, 
which gave life and spirit to the gay assembly, are 
gone forever. Then she can add hers to the sad 
testimony of the poet : 

" The friends who in our sunshine live, 
When winter comes are flown ; 
And she who hath but tears to give, 
Must weep those tears alone." 

How frequently does the young and trusting 
heart swell with emotion, on the discovery of the 
deceitful nature of worldly favor ! ^^ The greetings 
where no kindness is '' are taken by the truthful as 
truth itself ; and when they change to coldness or 



THE GODLY WOMAN. 239 

contempt, the ardent spirit shrinks beneath them, 
as the lily withers when the sunshine of heaven 
changes to the chill north wind. And the young, 
having no hope of God's favor, or of happiness in 
the w^orld to come, exchange for a misanthropic 
and ungentle spirit the trusting affection of an ingen- 
uous mind, and become like the cold and worldly 
beings whose deceitful favor once misled them. 

Perhaps there is scarcely a woman who has not 
listened to the voice of flattery; and though the 
coarse praise of a flattering tongue would disgust 
the pious, and displease too the cultivated and 
refined, yet most have been sometimes beguiled 
by its more delicate and skilful application. There 
is a self-love in every human heart to Avhich such 
praise can appeal ; and even the woman who knows 
the commendation to be undeserved will sometimes 
be pleased, as she believes that such at least is the 
opinion of those who utter it. But time comes, 
and truth comes with him, and with rude hand tears 
away the veil from falsehood, and the deceived 
spirit learns at length the lesson that favor is 
deceitful. 

And is Christian intercourse altogether free from 



240 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

this deceitfulness ? Are there not prevalent, in 
Christian society, words and practices which express 
far more than the heart can respond to ? To the 
courtesies of life no Christian should he indifferent. 
If the worldly woman learns, from the pohteness of 
the world, to prefer the comfort of others to her 
own, — if she must make sacrifices of feeling, that 
in society she may appear kind and polite, — how 
much more should Christian women practise a gen- 
tle courtesy of manner, from the consideration that 
even Christ pleased not himself. ''Be ye kind, be 
ye courteous," is the injunction of a holy apostle ; 
and all rudeness and incivility should be shunned 
by every woman professing to have been taught of 
God. 

On the other hand, is not the favor of that woman 
deceitful, who stretches out the hand of kindness to 
her acquaintance, who welcomes her to her house, 
and listens with apparent sympathy to the expres- 
sion of her feelings, — and who will, on her absence, 
recount her faults or ridicule her follies ? that 
all Christian women were wholly free from this 
portion of worldly false-heartedness, this conformity 
to worldly favor ; and were ever sincere and candid 



THE GODLY WOMAN. 241 

in their expressions of friendship ! On them, at 
least, let the trusting heart lean, in full assurance 
that the love which is uttered is the love which is 
felt. 

But while we must admit that, even in Christian 
intercourse, much imperfection exists, and the 
spirit of the world sometimes darkens the brighter 
lustre of the Christian character, yet it has ever 
been the lot of the sorrowful and desolate to find 
compassion and sincerity nowhere so fully developed 
as in the circle of those who are the real followers 
of Christ. The woman who sincerely fears the 
Lord, who lives nearest to him, will be, too, the 
truest and best of earthly friends ; and when David 
said, '' I am a companion of all them that fear 
thee," he could number among those servants of 
God the faithful friends of his hours of adversity ; 
and he could think of the pleasant Jonathan, and 
the liberal BarziUai, and the faithful Nathan, — men 
who never forsook him when sorrow came, whose 
favor was never deceitful ; but who loved him best 
when most he needed their friendship, because their 
love was strengthened by their fear and love of God. 

And are not the favor and love of God unchang- 
ing ? He has said, ^' Call upon me in the day of 



242 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

trouble;" he has bid us, when earthly favor has 
proved deceitful, to bring the worn and weary spirit 
to him for refuge. And no one ever sought him in 
vain, or had reason to regret that he had cast all 
his care on the loving-kindness of an unchanging 
God. 

We have not need to look far to see the passing • 
nature, the vanity, of personal beauty : 

" For not a year but pilfers, as it goes, 
Some youthful grace that age would gladly keep : '' 

and time brings assuredly his wrinkles to furrow the 
fairest countenance. Sudden or prolonged sickness 
changes the rose on the cheek to paleness, and dims 
the eye whose brightness told a tale of health and 
gladness ; for when God with rebukes doth chasten 
for iniquity, he maketh beauty to pass away like a 
moth ; so that all, even in their best states, are 
altogether vanity. But the frailty of beauty is most 
apparent when we look on death, — on that change 
which all must encounter. '^It is,'' says Jeremy 
Taylor, "a. mighty change that is made by the 
death of every person, and it is visible to us who 
are alive. Reckon but from the sprightfulness of 



THE GODLY WOMAN. 243 

youth, and the fair cheeks and the full eyes of 
childhood ; from the yigorousness and strong flex- 
ure of the joints of five-and-twenty, to the hoUow- 
ness and dead paleness, to the loathsomeness and 
horror, of a three days' burial, and he shall perceive 
the distance to be very great and very strange/' 

** 0, what LS beauty's power ? 

It perishes and dies. 
Shall the cold earth its silence break, 
To tell how soft and smooth a cheek 
Beneath its surface lies ? 
Mute, mute is all, 
O'er beauty's fall ; 
Her praise resounds no more when mantled in her pall." 

^'But a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall 
be praised." Such a woman would have praise of 
God. The ornament of a meek and .quiet spirit is 
of great price, and to the true believer in Christ 
God will say, at the great day, " Well done, good 
and faithful servant ; enter thou into the joy of thy 
Lord." And, 0! Avhat praise can equal this? 
Men may praise those whom God disapproves. 
They may hold that to be good which God abhors ; 
and even when they have the right standard of 
17 



244 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

holiness, yet they may so Uttle know the hearts of 
others as to mistake in their estimate of good and 
evil. On whom is the praise of men bestowed ? 
On those who conquer kingdoms, who perform great 
exploits in discovery and science, who make high 
attainments in knowledge, or who clothe in lofty 
Terse thoughts of beauty and genius. And who 
will deny his meed of praise to the philosopher or 
the poet ? We owe them so much, that we could 
not pluck a leaf from the laurel or the bay, without 
ingratitude. Yet, in all their thoughts of sublimity 
or tenderness, there may be no fear of God ; he may 
not be pleased. '' To that man will I look," saith 
Jehovah, '^ who is of an humble and contrite heart, 
and who tremble th at my word." The humble and 
lowly Christian, performing the simplest and com- 
monest duties. of domestic life in his fear ; seeking 
his counsel, and earnestly striving to keep his com- 
mands ; praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, 
and confidently trusting for the pardon of her sin in 
him who died on the cross to redeem her, — this is 
the woman on whom shall be bestowed that best, 
that only praise which is truly valuable ; for of her 
the Lord himself shall say, " She hath chosen that 
good part, which shall not be taken away from her." 






-^ J H^^ 



2^ '^^ 1%'"^'^ 





'^T1A]^E 'i^^Il m ¥&^il ^JLTE^. 



Ul^m®^^ AB'D LIT ¥il.n WVJ'^ VJ^(3^ii^ 



THE REWARDED WOMAN. 



247 



SECTION XXII. 



GIVE HER OF THE FRUIT OF HER HANDS ; AND LET HER OWN 
V>'ORKS PRAISE HER IN THE GATES. 

Questions Imve been raised whether 
this passage is a continuation of the 
Ipraise bestowed on this excellent 
matron by her husband, or whether 
it may not be regarded as a prayer 
offered up on her behalf. We have 
spoken of the gate as the place of assem- 
bly and of commerce, where the fruits 
of her industry w^ould be known and appre- 
' ciated, and where men would speak of her 
virtues ; where she would be mentioned as 
a great example of female excellence, and her deeds 
of mercy and her unblamable life would characterize 
her as a mother in Israel, and a devout and humble 
servant of the great Jehovah. 

Although a life of consistent virtue generally 
brings its own reward in the esteem of those whose 
good opinion is truly valuable, and though the hand 
of the diligent usually, in some degree, maketh 




248 THE EXCELLENT WOMAN. 

rich, yet it is not always in this world that the good 
receive of the fruit of their hands. But there is a 
world on which the holy women of old have long 
since entered, — a w^orld to which we are all hasten- 
ing, — when every one shall receive according to the 
deeds done in the body, whether they be good, or 
whether they be OAal. We cannot be saved by an 
exemplary and virtuous life ; for never yet Avas there 
a human being Avho lived and sinned not ; and the 
holiest action ever performed by sinful man had yet 
mingled with it so much infirmity of motive, that 
it needed the atoning blood of Christ to render it 
acceptable in the eyes of an infinitely holy God. 
But Christian principle, though it will not enable 
us, while in this v/orld, to offer a perfect obedience, 
will certainly be accompanied by the practice of 
holiness, an earnest endeavor after godliness, and a 
hatred and avoidance of sin. For the Scripture has 
said, ''As the body without the spirit is dead, so 
faith without works is dead also." While we can- 
not answer God for one of a thousand of our trans- 
gressions, yet he will reward the humblest deed of 
good which proceeds from love to Christ. And 
when the beloved apostle spoke of the blessedness 



THE KEWxVRDED WOMAN. 249 

of those who die in the Lord, he adds, " They rest 
from their labors, and their works do follow them." 
The pious deeds which they had wrought on earth 
were not forgotten in heaven ; but they followed as 
evidences of love to Christ, as the result of holy 
principles, and are thus accepted and approved by 
a gracious God. Blessed indeed are they who 
steadily endure, amid all temptation ; for when 
they are tried, they shall receive the crown of life, 
which the Lord hath promised to them that love 
him ; and thus the fruits of their hands and hearts 
shall be given to them through all eternity. 

" ! in our sterner manhood, when no ray 
Of earlier sunshine glimmers on our way, — 
When girt with sin, and sorrow, and the toil 
Of cares which tear the bosom that they soil, — 
! if there be in retrospection's chain 
One link that knits us with young dreams again, 
One thought so sweet we scarcely dare to muse 
On all the hoarded raptures it reviews, 
Which seems each instant, in its backward range, 
The heart to soften, and its ties to change, 
And every spring, untouched for years, to move, 

It is THE MEMORY OF A MOTHEH's LOVE ! " 

17* 



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